Travellers to Greece and Constantinople: Ancient Monuments and Old Traditions in Medieval Travellers' Tales

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PIHANS • XLIX

Travellers to Greece and Constantinople Ancient Monuments and Old Traditions in Medieval Travellers’ Tales J.P.A. van der Vin

Nederlands Historisch-Archaeologisch Instituut te Istanbul 1980

UITGA YEN VAN HET NEDERLANDS HISTORISCH-ARCHAEOLOGISCH INSTITUUT TE ISTANBUL Publications de J'Institut historique-archeologique m\erlandais de Stamboul sous la direction de E. van DONZEL, Machteld J. MELLINK, C. NIJLAND et J.J. ROODENBERG

XLIX

TRA YELLERS TO GREECE AND CONSTANTINOPLE Ancient Monuments and Old Traditions in Medieval Travellers' Tales Volume I

TRA YELLERS TO GREECE AND CONSTANTINOPLE Ancient Monuments and Old Traditions in Medieval Travellers' Tales Volume I

by J.P.A. VAN DER VIN

NEDERLANDS HISTORISCH-ARCHAEOLOGISCH INSTITUUT TE ISTANBUL 1980

Copyright 1980 by Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten Noordeindsplein 4a-6a, 2311 AH Leiden, Nederland

All rights reserved, including the right to translate or to reproduce this book or parts thereof in any form

ISBN 90 6258 049 I Printed in Belgium /

I

FOREWORD The idea for this study first came into being some 10 years ago as a result of several journeys through central and southern Greece and across the island of Crete. At that time it occurred to me to wonder how travellers in former times had reacted when confronted with the many remains of ancient culture in what is now Greece and in western Turkey. This led to some cautious research, which eventually gave rise to this book. This study consists of three parts: Part I is primarily concerned with the travellers; their personalities, their motives for travelling, their route and the accounts of their experiences they left behind are dealt with here. In part II the various reports about 'archaeologica' are given, arranged geographically. Part Ill contains those fragments from the travellers'tales which are important for this study. All the accounts which are published in English, French or German have been taken from existing editions of the texts; a number of the Latin texts are given in an English translation, to make these, too, accessible to a wider public. r would like to thank most sincerely all those who have assisted me with their help, advice, encouragement, questions or comments. Among them I include the staff of the Koninklijk Penningkabinet, the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, the Universiteitsbibliotheek in Leiden, the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris and the Library of Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, who showed great willingness in complying with my many and often difficult requirements. I am particularly grateful to the Ministry of Culture, Recreation and Social Affairs for allowing me to reduce my work load somewhat for a period of one and a half years, and so making it possible for me to write this book. The translation of the entire book was done by Drs. R.M. van Wengen-Shute. She carried out this task with great rapidity and has made an excellent job of it, realizing to the full my aim of producing a readable book. I am extremely grateful to her for this. I am most grateful to the Ministry of Education and Science for their contribution to the costs of translation and also to the Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten which accepted this study for publication in their series.

VI

FOREWORD

It is difficult to give an exact definition of the area to which the travellers voyaged, for the political situation has been changed very much during and after the middle ages. 'Byzantine empire' has been used in a political sense, but only for the period until 1204. 'Greece' is an indication for a geographical entity more or less corresponding with the modern republic of Greece. 'Asia Minor' indicates the West coast of Turkey and the Lycian coastal towns of Patara and Myra.

The Hague, December 1979.

TABLE OF CONTENTS V

Foreword Table of contents

VII

X

Abbreviations Part I: The Travellers

1

Introduction Pilgrimages

13

1. The position of Greece in Pilgrimages to Jerusalem 2. Constantinople as a place of pilgrimage 3. The value and the content of pilgrims' reports 4. Benjamin of Tudela 5. Wilhelm von Boldensele 6. Ludolf von Sudheim ?. Niccolo da Martoni B. Pero Tafur 9. Summary

13

30 37 52 63

The Crusades and the Latin States in Greece

65

1. Crusaders: 1th-4th crusades 2. Robert de Clari 3. The Latin States in Greece 4. Crusade Plans in the 14th and 15th century

.65 75 80 86

Chapter Ill.

Envoys

97

Chapter IV.

Merchants

105

Chapter V.

Soldiers

113

1. Mercenaries 2. Prisoners of War

113 119

Chapter VI.

Missionaries and Spiritual Advisers

125

Chapter VII.

Geographers

129

1. Geographic activity up to about 1400 2. Cristoforo Buondelmonti 3. Arab geographers

129 133 150

Chapter I.

Chapter II.

18 20

24 25

TABLE OF CONTENTS

VIII

Chapter VIII. Scholars and students: studies at a Greek university

155

Chapter IX.

Tourists

163

Other travel accounts: Jean de Mandeville

167

Chapter

x.

Chapter XI.

Language and linguistic problems: the know- 171 ledge of greek in western Europe

Part II: The Monuments Introduction Chapter XII.

183

Northern Greece

189

1. ThessaZonica 2. Stageira-Athos 3. HeZZespont-GaZZipoZi 4. other pZaces on the mainZand 5. Ionian IsZands

189 191 192 193 194

Chapter XIII. Central Greece

1. Athens 2. Piraeus-Porto Rafti

197

?. Patras B. Euboea (Negroponte)

197 208 209 210 210 211 214 217

Southern Greece

219

1. Modon and Koran 2. Cerigo 3. MoneJWasia 4. Sparta-Mistra 5. Kyparissia

219 220 223 224 225

Chapter XV.

Crete

227

Chapter XVI.

The Archipelago

239

1. Chi os 2. Rhodes 3. Patmos and Cos 4. other isZands

239 242 245 247

3. EZeusis-Megara

4. Sounion 5. Thebes 6. Corinth-Isthmus

Chapter XIV.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

IX

Chapter XVII. Constantinople

249

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. B. 9. 10.

249 256 260 266 271 278 281 287 289 290

appearance and situation Hagia Sophia other churches and monasteries Hippodrome the statue of Justinian I on horseback monumental columns palaces water supply other buildings Galata-Pera

Chapter XVIII.Westcoast of Asia Minor

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Tray Nicea Nicomedia-Bursa Ephesus other cities

Epilogue

293 293 297 298 299 301 303

1. The antique monuments in Italy and the influence of the Renaissance on archaeological activities 2. The attitude of the Greeks with regard to their antiquities 3. The attitude of the Turks to the classical monuments 4. The attitude of the Latin population to the classical monuments

303

310 319 321

Conclusion

325

Notes

329

Select Bibliography

477

Texts

481

Index of names and places

711

ABBREVIATIONS AA.

Archaologischer Anzeiger

AJA.

American Journal of Archaeology

AM.

Mitteilungen des deutschen archaologischen Instituts, Athenische Abteilung

BCH.

Bulle.tin de Correspondance HelHmique

Bildlexikon

W. MUller-Wiener (ed.), BiZdZexikon zur TopoIstanbuZs~ TUbingen, 1977

graphie BSA.

Annual of the British School at Athens

BZ.

Byzantinische Zeitschrift

CIG.

Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum

CIL. CRAI.

Compte rendu de l'Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres

DOP.

Dumbarton Oaks Papers

Jdi.

Jahrbuch des deutschen archaologischen Instituts

JHS.

Journal of Hellenic Studies

JRS.

Journal of Roman Studies

MGH. SS.

Monumenta Germaniae

Migne, PL.

Migne, J-P., PatroZogiaLatina, 221 vols., Paris, 1844-64

Recueil Occ.

RecueiZ des historiens des croisades~ historiens occidentaux, 5 vols., Paris, 1845-

Historica~

1895 REG.

Revue des etudes grecques

Scriptores

P A R T

I

THE TRAVELLERS

INTRODUCTION 'By donkey, on foot and on horseback, hungry and thirsty, moaning and groaning and ready to drop, I arrived at Naupactus'. It is in these cheerless terms that Liudprand of Cremona describes his forty-nine day journey from Constantinople through northern Greece to Naupactus (Lepanto) 1 . In 968 he had been sent by the German emperor Otto I as an ambassador to the Byzantine court of Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, to ask for the hand of a porphyrogenita, a Byzantine princess. This mission was unsuccessful, and after staying several months in the Byzantine capital he obtained leave to return home. In his description of his legation he gives an account of all the miseries he had to endure, both in Constantinople and en route. The picture he paints of Greece and of the Greeks is an entirely negative one. Now, a thousand years later, the situation has undergone a complete change, Jet planes, ferries and trains convey thousands of travellers quickly and comfortably to the Greek world. The tourist trade has become for Greece and Turkey an important source of income. The magnificent scenery with its rugged mountains and its many islands scattered in a blue sea, a delightful climate, the hospitable inhabitants, the relatively low prices, all these have helped to turn the Greek mainland and the islands into a holiday resort par excellence 2 • In particular, the remains from the Greek, Roman and Byzantine periods have come to occupy a position of central interest 3 • The Acropolis of Athens and that of Linctus in Rhodes, the temple of Poseidon in Cape Sounion, the tholos of Delphi, the temple site of Olympia, the theatre of Epidaurus, the ruins of Ephesus and Troy, and the labyrinthine Minoan palace at Knossos, all these are well known far and wide outside ·Greece Not only in these great centres, but also in innumerable smaller places, much of the past has been preserved, Excavations undertaken in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries brought to light enormous quantities of material which had until then remained hidden, thereby immensely increasing our knowledge of Greek antiquity. On the other hand, many of the monuments never had been hidden from view; the imposing temple of Athena Parthenos on the Athenian Acropolis had always been there for every visitor to Athens to see. Up to 1687 this building, dating from the fifth century B.C. had undergone only a few unimportant changes, most of them on the inside. It was only during the Venetian-Turkish war in

2

INTRODUCTION

1687 that, after two thousand years, the creation of Iotinus, Phidias and Callicrates suffered irreparable damage. Yet what remains still forms an impressive and widely visible whole. As well as the Athenian Parthenon other remains from the times of the Greeks, Romans and Byzantines, spread over the whole country, have always been visible and accessible both to the inhabitants and to visitors. It must, moreover, be pointed out that even though expert excavations did not take place until the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, throughout the ages objects had continually been dug up, either accidentally, or otherwise. They were constantly appearing from underground - pillars, statues, stelai and ceramics, but especially coins, ornaments, jewels and cameos. Information about discoveries of this sort is purely incidental: Cristoforo Buondelmonti mentions that in about 1420 about five hundred statues were discovered in a vineyard in Rhodes 4 • The fact that ancient building materials (spolia) were re-used in medieval buildings, and that mainly ancient jewels and cameos were incorporated into medieval objets d'art is evidence of a permanent supply of ancient materials. That such finds were not themselves purely incidental, but that relics of ancient cultures were discovered with great regularity, can be seen from the journal of the seventeenth-century orientalist Antoine Galland. On January 27 1672, he writes from Athens, where he is staying: 'qu'en fouillant dedans et aux environs de la ville on decouvroit tous les jours quelques statues ou d'autres restes d'antiquite' 5 • The interest, admiration and appreciation which have placed Greek antiquity in a central position in our own time contrast with the total indifference of the middle ages. Tourism, as it has developed in Europe since the seventeenth century, was then completely unknown 6 • Travelling was not, at that time, a pleasant form of recreation, but an undertaking fraught with danger and suspense. The passage from the work of Liudprand of Cremona quoted above leaves us in no doubt of that. People were prepared to leave their house and home and set off into the unknown only if they were commanded to do so, or if the hoped-for outcome of the journey was sufficiently desirable to outweigh the hardships and danger involved. The difficulty of travelling inside Europe in the middle ages was due most of all to the lack of safety. There were constant wars between feudal lords to be reckoned with, as well as highwaymen and pirates, who had more or less a free hand. There was no hope of sanctions from higher up, since in most places there was, for a long time, no central authority at all.

INTRODUCTION

3

Vehicles too, were often deficient; the system of roads and bridges built by the Romans had been neglected, and had fallen largely into disrepair, so that it was often necessary to seek out a way through the country for oneself, either on horseback or on foot. No wonder that in these circumstances people preferred to travel in groups, and that traffic was for the most part concentrated on a few main routes 7 . Travelling by sea was equally difficult and hazardous. Ships were small, and often badly equipped; people were often seasick and as well as the risk of shipwreck and storms there was the constant threat of pirates, Arab or western. In the Islamic areas outside Europe the situation was rather different. A number of Islamites are known to have undertaken extremely long and extensive journeys for the purposes of study and scientific interest, or purely out of interest in strange countries and peoples. A man like Ibn Battuta, for example, in the fourteenth century, spent some thirty years travelling in the Middle East and China, as well as in tropical Africa.

Travelling before the eleventh century In the period between the Migration of the Nations and the eleventh century there was no large scale travelling inside Europe. Doubtless people did travel; ambassadors travelled back and forth to carry out the commands of their temporal or spiritual masters. Bishops made fairly regular journeys to Rome to pay their respects to the Holy See 8 , There was, moreover, an increasing number of pious folk who set out on pilgrimages, either to some shrine in their own vicinity, or to the graves of the apostles Peter and Paul in Rome. Occasionally an individual, such as the Gallic bishop Arculf in about 675 9 , would even undertake the long journey to Jerusalem. There was regular contact between the various monasteries, and the courts also exerted a powerful attraction for their surroundings. Artists, scholars and merchants usually received a hospitable welcome at the courts. Yet in the period before the eleventh century travel was limited to small groups. Mass migrations such as those which took place in the later middle ages were, as yet, out of the question. Trade contacts in the West of Europe never completely broke down in the early middle ages. It is no longer possible to regard this period as the 'Dark Ages', a time in which nothing happened. Times of increased trade and traffic alternate with periods of more limited contact, but on the whole a steady

4

INTRODUCTION

growth can be observed in the trade traffic of western Europe. Of the goods which were traded little remains; the coins used in the purchase and sale of these goods have, however, in some cases, been preserved, buried underground. It is this numismatic material, which has turned up in innumerable hoards all over Europe, which has, in the last decennia, done much to clarify our view of many aspects of medieval trade. Together with the relatively few literary sources the discovery of these hoards constitutes the most important historical information about that period 10 • In the last few decennia scholars have tried to sketch the development of trade and shipping in the early middle ages on the evidence of the available historical, archeological and numismatic material 11 • The following conclusion which emerges from their work is important for the present study. It appears that up till the eleventh century trade and traffic were confined mainly to two large areas: the one around the Mediterranean Sea, the other within the territory of northwest Europe. Contacts between these two trade blocs were, however, limited in scope, and it is only in the course of the eleventh century that it is possible to see clear signs of the merging and mixing of the two spheres of influence, 12 with the trading centre moving northward to the area between the Po and the Rhine. Due to the closed-in nature of both the north and the south of Europe there was little or no direct contact between Byzantium and western Europe. It is assumed that there were indirect contacts, via Italy and via Scandinavia; the presence of Byzantine gold and Byzantine ornaments in France and England including a magnificent dish with four silver hall-marks of Emperor Anastasius among the Sutton Hoo treasures - proves that such contacts did, in any case, exist 13 • An important factor which prevented the formation of direct contacts between Greek territory and the West was the attitude of the Greeks themselves. The Byzantine world was very much an inward-looking one, where people showed no interest in what was going on in what the Byzantines saw as the 'barbaric' West. Thus no attempts were made from the Byzantine side to maintain contacts with western Europe. Moreover, the Greeks themselves hardly engaged in trade at all. In the mediterranean area trade, in the early middle ages, was almost entirely in the hands of Jews and 'Syrians' - a general name for anybody from the East. 1 ~ These Syrians and Jews collected eastern products from certain harbours appointed by the Byzantine emperors, the most important of which was Constantinople, and arranged for their transport and their sale in

INTRODUCTION

5

western Europe. In the fifth to seventh centuries there were colonies of these Levantine merchants in all the large towns around the Mediterranean Sea: in harbours such as Marseilles, Narbonne, Aries, Genoa, Naples and Palermo, but they can also be found in towns further inland, such as Lyons and Vienne, and even Orleans and Paris. 15 From these places oriental and Byzantine products, including slaves, furs and luxury articles, were distributed throughout France, England and Germany. In western Europe the trade which during the Merovingian period had mainly been in a south-north direction changed its course during the Carolingian period. Contacts with the area round the Mediterranean Sea had been reduced to almost nothing, and this led, in the ninth century to the disappearance of the Levantine and Jewish traders. The trading centre was no longer in Marseilles and in the Rhone valley 16 , but when, in the ninth and tenth centuries, trade was gradually transferred to Italian hands, activity was concentrated upon such cities as Venice, Genoa, Ancona, Amalfi and Pisa. From there the products could be distributed by local merchants. Just as on the Byzantine side there was no attempt to maintain contacts with the West, so in the West hardly anything of this sort was attempted. This, however, was not due to a lack of interest, but to a lack of the means to finance expensive and dangerous journeys to Greece. Brehier concludes, at the end of his study, that western travellers to eastern Mediterranean regions cannot be traced on the basis of the available material, and that if any activity was indeed engaged upon by people from the West then this activity cannot, in any case, have been of any great importance.17 In the above it has always been assumed that any contacts between Greece and Constantinople with the West would in any case involve a voyage, long or short, by ship. The shortest sea route was the crossing from a harbour in southern Italy to one of the Ionian islands, or to the west coast of Greece. However abhorrent the idea of a sea journey, there was simply no alternative, as the overland route straight across the Balkans, the area where the Byzantine empire bordered on the rest of Europe, was impassable until the eleventh century. The unsafe state of the Balltans, which was largely due to still uncivilized Serbian and Bulgarian tribes, made traffic through that area impossible. This may be clearly seen from the maps in 'The Northern Seas' where Lewis shows the major trade routes of Europe: although in the early middle ages we

6

INTRODUCTION

see in the north and west an ever-closer network of trade routes, up to 1100 the Balkans are traversed by not a single continuous route. 18 The fact that the Balkans were scrupulously avoided is confirmed by the route which Liudprand of Cremona took from the German Empire to Constantinople and back. In 969 he made the hazardous journey, lasting 49 days, through northern Greece to Naupactus; from there he continued to Corfu, and from that island he ventured on the crossing to southern Italy. The impossibility of taking the overland route was used at the Byzantine court as an argument for keeping him in Constantinople for several weeks. 19 The lack of safety in Europe, which made long distance traffic difficult to organize, the fact that Byzantium was not directly connected to the west-European network of trade routes, but was only accessible by sea, and, most of all, an indifference to each other's way of life and culture all these resulted in the fact that in the period prior to about 1100 the Byzantine empire remained beyond the ken of the inhabitants of western Europe. The testimonies of western Europeans included in this book are almost all post-eleventh century. With the exception of Arculf and Liudprand of Cremona the few medieval travellers from the West who visited Constantinople or other places in Greek territory left no account of their experiences.

Changes after the eleventh century In the course of the eleventh century the situation in western Europe underwent a change, which improved the possibility of travelling. In several areas sovereigns succeeded in establishing a more or less stable central authority, and although this did not immediately put a complete stop to the many feudal wars it did bring about a greater degree of safety and tranquillity, 20 The Vikings gradually gave up their raids and settled down in Normandy and, in the same period, in England. As a result of their victory over the Arabs in 1061-91 the island of Sicily also came under their government. The one great threat in the south of Europe was still the Arabs, whose ships made the Mediterranean Sea unsafe, even after their base in Kandak (Iraklion) in Crete had been captured by Emperor Nicephorus Phocas in 961. 21 The Crusades started by Pope Urban II in 1096, also contributed to greater peace in western Europe; one of their results was that because many noblemen went off

INTRODUCTION

7

to the Holy Land many existing feuds either faded into the background or else were fought out outside Europe. 22 As well as the greater degree of peace and stability in the West, the changed situation in eastern Europe must also be taken into consideration. During the eleventh century a direct relationship grew up between Byzantium and western Europe, because the great route across the Balkans, which had been blocked for several centuries, came back into use. It was now once more possible to travel to Constantinople and Greece from the West entirely by land,on horseback, on mules, on foot or in carts. This re-opening of the Balkan route was made possible by two important factors: the Christianizing of the Hungarians and Bulgarians, and also the strong expansion of the Byzantine empire towards the north. The highly successful expeditions of Emperor Basil II (9761025) are well known, and earned him the nickname 'Bulgaroctonus'. The growing influence of Italian seafarers on trade with the Byzantine empire should also be mentioned as a further factor in helping to draw Byzantium and the West closer together. From the ninth and tenth century onwards Venetians, Genoese and the inhabitants of Pisa, Amalfi and several smaller Italian seaports had managed to wrest the entire trade with Byzantium right out of the hands of the Levantines and Jews. This increase in trade naturally led to regular contacts between Byzantium and many places throughout Italy. The growing contact with western Europe even led, in the twelfth century, to a change in the mentality of a number of prominent Byzantines. Emperor Manuel I Comnenus (1143-80) showed a clear leaning towards the West: he married western princesses, first Bertha von Sulzbach and then Mary of Antioch, and favoured Italian merchants; his successor, Alexius II (1180-83) married Agnes of France, a daughter of Louis VII. These overtures to western Europe were not, however, greatly appreciated by the Greek population. 23 All this led to places in the Byzantine empire, and especially Constantinople, being visited by non-Greeks from the eleventh century onward, either as destinations in themselves, or as stopping places on a longer journey. Journeys were made by people of every sort, each for his own purposes. Among the travellers of the late middle ages one could find members of the high nobility, but also bishops and regular or secular clergy. Ordinary citizens also took part to an increasing extent in international traffic.

8

INTRODUCTION

I have tried to divide into groups those whose travels brought them into contact with Greece and its culture, and who, moreover, left a written record of their experiences. In the following chapters I shall examine the contribution made by these travellers - pilgrims, crusaders, diplomats, missionaries, geographers, scholars and students, merchants, mercenaries and adventurers, each in their own way - to a better knowledge of medieval Greece. There is also a group of travellers that could be described in modern terms as 'tourists', though this group is small and its representatives are drawn from outside Europe. This division of people into groups has occasionally led to problems, since it is not always entirely clear to which category a particular traveller belongs; some really belong in more than one category. The crusaders, for example, used to call themselves 'pilgrims'; a pilgrimage was sometimes used as a cloak for espionage; missionaries sometimes engaged in the study of language and culture. Thus some people will be considered in more than one context. The way in which these people reacted when confronted with the material remains of a far older culture forms the central theme of this study. No distinction has been made, purposely, between Greek, Roman and Byzantine remains. For the traveller there was no such distinction; the western European of the middle ages lacked the historical realization that his own time was quite different from the successive cultures which preceded it. This is equally true of the inhabitants of the Byzantine empire; until the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in the fifteenth century they regarded Byzantium as an uninterrupted continuation of the Roman empire - just as in western Europe Charlemagne and the German emperors called themselves Roman Emperor. In this introduction I want to devote some attention to the numbers of people who set out their travels. In the twentieth century it has become quite normal for the number of people travelling for reasons of work or recreation, or for other reasons, to run into many millions. In an aeroplane about five hundred people at once can reach the far side of the globe within twenty-four hours. By train, thousands of people can be transported considerable distances in a relatively short time. Such massive figures must be set aside when considering travel in the middle ages. The majority of journeys lasted weeks, sometimes even months, and were undertaken by individuals, who in certain circumstances - particularly for reasons of safety - formed themselves into

INTRODUCTION

9

small groups. In the case of crusades larger numbers of people were doubtless involved, though the choice of ships as a means of transport must have imposed some limits on the size of the expeditions. From the twelfth century onwards there is a steady increase in travel, caused mainly by the great growth in the number of pilgrimages. Most of these pilgrimages, however, were to not too far-distant shrines; long-distance travel was, even then, relatively limited, As well as the many dangers and difficulties which inevitably accompanied a long journey there were also the high costs of such undertaking, which not many people can have been able to afford. There are no exact figures available of travellers in any particular area. It is clear, however, that in the middle ages pilgrims outnumbered all other groups of travellers, such as merchants, soldiers, missionaries and adventurers. In the works of Italian chroniclers such as Villani and Ventura estimates are found of the number of pilgrims to Rome in the jubilee year 1300. Ventura mentions a total of two million people, 24 while Villani states that throughout the whole year there were always more than two hundred thousand staying in Rome. 25 Such estimates do not, of course, give any certainty as to the actual number of travellers, but it is at least possible to conclude that the number of people in Rome in that year was so great as to make a deep impression on the authors, who emphasize that they themselves were present as eyewitnesses. 26 Dante, too, in his Divine Comedy, paints a picture of the thousands of pilgrims who, in 1300, daily thronged across the bridge over the Tiber near St. Peter's, in both directions.27 Yet most of these thousands of pilgrims must have come from Italy. Parks, in his study of English travellers in Italy comes to the conclusion, after consulting a great number of sources, that in 1300 only about two hundred of this throng of visitors to Rome would have been English. 28 I think it probable that the figures for other distant countries would be similar. Rome and Compostela were the two most important places of pilgrimage to which great streams of pilgrims set out in the later middle ages; Jerusalem remained rather an exclusive destination, even though for many people a visit to that city was a cherished desire. The relatively small extent of travel to Jerusalem is particularly evident from the Venetian archives. For certain periods there are records of the number of pilgrims to the Holy Land

10

INTRODUCTION

who went there by ship from Venice. For the period 1380-90 the pilgrims transported by a specially organized service 29 from Venice numbered between three and four hundred a year. The total number of travellers to Palestine was, of course, higher, since there were other travelling possibilities as well as this special service; but it should be borne in mind that although Venice was not the only place from which pilgrims were transported to the Holy Land it was the most important. To sum up, it may be stated that travel to Byzantium, or via Byzantium to the Holy Land, was never a mass undertaking in the middle ages, but that it was rather a matter of small groups who journeyed to the edges of Europe, and beyond. Situated at the farthest eastern corner of Europe, the Byzantine empire never occupied a prominent position in European traffic, with the regrettable but unavoidable result that visits to and descriptions of Greece and Constantinople were but few in number. To conclude this introduction a word must be said about the value of medieval travel accounts as a source. Clearly, this evidence from the middle ages cannot be judged according to twentieth-century criteria. 30 There are various negative aspects 31 : more often than not the travellers' reports are inaccurate. and often contain information they have not understood, or only partially; and many authors have a tendency to grossly exaggerate all sorts of things which attracted their attention on their journey. In particular, things they have heard while abroad often come across wrongly or in a distorted form as a result of an inadequate knowledge of the language. 32 One of the foremost reasons for this inaccuracy is the fact that most of the accounts were only written after the traveller's return to his own country; travellers either wrote their experiences down themselves in book form or else recounted or dictated them to professional writers. Certainly in a number of cases use was made of notes made on the way 33 ; but many other authors wrote either partly or entirely from their reminiscences. Not all the authors had the same purpose in mind when they wrote. Sometimes an account was written down to remind the author himself of his experiences. Others were written for a wider public, who were either interested in what the traveller had seen in far countries, or else wanted to make use of his experiences on a similar journey which they themselves proposed to undertake; this was often the origin of pilgrims' books, in particular. There are yet other accounts which are written by the

INTRODUCTION

11

traveller as a report to his employer. The level of the writer's general education is undoubtedly of great importance for the quality of his account, though it should always be remembered that in the middle ages even a well-educated man was unlikely to have any overall picture of what was going on in the world around him. His vision, both of time and space, was subject to many limitations, not only on his own ground, but, to a much greater extent, in foreign territory. The relative frequency of stories and legends is due not so much to the credulity of the authors as to the fact that a traveller in a strange environment was totally dependent on guides and interpreters. It was hardly ever possible to find things out for oneself: pilgrims complain that without guides (and therefore gratuities!) they could never hope to see any relics at all; 34 ambassadors often had an escort assigned to them by the authorities concerned. As a consequence journeys on an individual basis were practically unknown in the middle ages. One last negative aspect must be mentioned: large parts of many of the travel accounts are not the authors' own work, but are frequently copied, with - or, more often than not without - reference to their source, from other documents. This plagiarism, which is not only found in west European descriptions, but also in Russian and Arabic ones, was not considered at all reprehensible. On the contrary, taking over suitable passages from earlier writers was thought to add greatly to the quality of one's own work. In pilgrims' books, in particular, which normally contain very little personal information, plagiarism is found on a large scale. Yet in spite of the many disadventages and limitations of travel accounts I still believe that the positive side must prevail. 35 The great advantage of a travel report over everything written by theologians, philosophers, historians, chroniclers and topographers who stayed at home is the fact that it contains the personal observations of the writer. In his account he records the impressions made on him in a foreign country by particular events, people, objects and customs. Often these elements, which the traveller has personally selected as important for publication, are recounted uncritically and at length; in other cases there are signs of the author's critical sense, and certain assertions are introduced with a careful 'It is said that ... '. In every instance, however, we find the personal views of a medieval traveller in a foreign environment. Jenkins 36 has

12

INTRODUCTION

strikingly put into words what is so valuable in medieval travel reports: ' ... to stigmatize a medieval writer as credulous or superstitious is to throw away at the outset the key to the interpretation of what he writes, to falsify history through our own anachronisms, and to treat as negligible what may be the most valuable thing in the narrative before us - the disclosure of the man who wrote and. the age in which he lived'. Two main elements are found intermingled in travel reports: the situation in the foreign territory and the author's reaction to it. With respect to the subject of this study this means that on the one hand these reports give a picture of the situation of the ancient monuments and the ~xistence of old traditions in Greek territory in the middle ages, and on the other they show the reactions of a foreigner to his confrontation with the remains of an earlier age. How difficult it is to describe a monument or an object is seen from the travel accounts. Only in a few cases is the description of a work of art or a building so detailed that it is possible to form any idea of its appearance 37 ; in general, however, the information is scanty and incomplete 38 ; the authors have a constant tendency to spin out insignificant details to a great length, and to neglect the main lines 39 • In selecting their subjects they frequently made quite a different choice from the one we should have made, and posited completely different priorities. We need not, however, see this as a bad thing, for I believe that to establish how people reacted in other times and other circumstances to particular events and objects, is of great value for us in forming our view of the material remains of a far distant past.

I. PILGRIMAGES

1. The position of Greece in pilgrimages to Jerusalem It is a remarkable fact that until the fifteenth century the most important incentive for undertaking a journey was not a material but a spiritual one. All over Europe were places of pilgrimage, large and small, to which people went to venerate the relics of a particular saint. 1 These pilgrimages were usually to places in the vicinity, but for people with more money and more courage more distant places were not entirely inaccessible. Places in the Holy Land which were known from the Scriptures, the graves of the apostles Peter and Paul in Rome and also, from the twelfth century onward, that of St. James in Santiago de Compostela in Spain, formed a great attraction to the faithful. In my introduction I have already drawn attention to the fact that of these three places of pilgrimage Rome and Compostela drew the most pilgrims, while the Holy Land was a place that many people longed to visit but only relatively few people actually did. In spite of this, it is only the pilgrims to Jerusalem who will be considered in this study; only they had the possibility of meeting with the inhabitants of the Greek mainland and islands on their way. For this reason a few remarks about medieval pilgrimages to Jerusalem seem to be called for. The oldest surviving record of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem dates back to the reign of Emperor Constantine. In 333, only a short time after the Edict of Milan gave freedom of religious practice to Christians, a pilgrim whose name is not recorded set out from Bordeaux to the Holy Land. His 'Itinerarium a Bordigala Hierusalem usque' contains little in the way of spectacular information; it consists mainly of a list of the places he visited, with a note as to the number of miles between these places. 2 This pilgrim gives no description of what he saw on the way. What does emerge from his account is that he followed the usual route for his time: he travelled entirely over land by way of the Balkans and past Sirmium (Sofia) and the newly founded Constantinople, and then continued across Asia Minor and on towards the East. The return journey was by way of Macedonia and Epirus; after crossing the Adriatic Sea his next destination was Rome. The Migration of the Nations and the Slav invasions of the Balkans in the following centuries made the overland route through this territory unusable from the fifth century on. 3

14

PILGRIMAGES

Only the sea route from Italy via the Greek islands to Cyprus and the Palestinian coast remained open, but many people were hesitant to entrust themselves to a small and unstable boat, The stream of pilgrims, which had already dwindled as a result of the loss of the overland route, became even smaller when the holy places fell into the hands of the Moslems, In 637, after a year-long siege, the patriarch of Jerusalem, Sophronius, was compelled to hand over the keys of the city to Caliph Omar. Under the new rulers the holy places became extremely difficult of access for Christians; yet in spite of this pilgrimages continued on a small scale. Thus in 675-80 the Gallic bishop Arculf travelled to Jerusalem; his journey 4 was later described in a book by the Scottish abbot Adamnanus. This work contains a fairly detailed description of Jerusalem and various other holy places, but at the end there are also several chapters devoted to Constantinople. On the return journey Arculf travelled from Alexandria via Crete to the town on the Bosporus, where he was to spend several months. He describes the situation of Constantinople, with water on two of its three sides, and mentions the strong walls round the city. The fact that many houses were built of stone attracts his attention, and makes him compare the city to Rome, where he had also seen similar buildings. He recounts at length a legend about its foundation which he heard from one of the inhabitants. Arculf devotes a separate chapter to the large church in which a famous relic of the holy cross was venerated (Hagia Sophia). Arculf's account includes many pious legends, but he also appears to have been interested in architecture, and especially church architecture. His descriptions are, however, brief, and contain no passages of great archaeological importance, In England Arculf's document must have enjoyed a certain degree of fame: in about 720 the Venerable Bede took over a shortened version of Arculf's text and incorporated it into his own work, De Locis sanctis. Especially in Bede's version Arculf's account long served as a kind of travel guide for Anglo-Saxon pilgrims to the Holy Land. 5 Bede also recounts how Arculf met Adamnanus: as a result of a storm he was blown off course, and landed on Iona. 6 About fifty years after Arculf's voyage Willibaldus, too, set off on a pilgrimage to Palestine, Willibaldus was of AngloSaxon origin, but in later life he worked with his brother Winnebaldus as a missionary in Germany, where he was appointed Bishop of Eichstadt. Shortly before his death in 785 Willibald's experiences were written down by a nun in Heidenheim.7 In his biography the journey to Palestine and

PILGRIMAGES TO JERUSALEM

15

Constantinople occupy an important place. In about 722 Willibald left Rome, and from Naples he travelled eastwards on an Egyptian ship. By way of Sicily, Monemvasia on the Peloponnesus and various Greek islands he arrived in Ephesus, where he visited the cave of the legendary Seven Sleepers and also the dwelling place of St. John the Evangelist. This was in 723-4. On his return journey from the holy places Willibald spent about two years in Constantinople; he does not, however, describe that city. His biography says only that he had a fixed abode in a church (Hagii Apostoli) from which he could view the relics of the blessed Andrew, Timothy and Luke every day! It is interesting, however, to find that Willibald went on a journey from Constantinople to Nicea, and visited the church where he believed the Council of Nicea (325) to have been held under Constantine. He does not describe this church, but does say that the church bears a great resemblance to the Church of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. 8 On the subject of decoration, we are told that on the walls there were pictures of the bishops who had taken part in the Council. No other descriptions survive of pilgrimages to the Holy Land and visits to Byzantine Greece in the early middle ages. Although the absence of descriptions does not imply that no travelling was done, one assumes that as a result of the length of time, usually several years, the great difficulties and the high costs involved in such an undertaking, these journeys to the Near East took place only incidentally. Rome could be reached without too great dangers, although crossing the Alps was always a problem and the risk of robbers not inconsiderable; one thing in its favour, however, was that it did not involve a sea crossing. For this very reason it was the destination of innumerable pilgrims in the Carolingian and Ottonian periods. The growth of trade and traffic in the eleventh century and the intensification of contacts between the area around the Mediterranean Sea and north-west Europe also gave new momentum to pilgrimages. These increased both in number and scope, but what is most important is that pilgrims now began to head for more and more distant shrines. From the eleventh to twelfth centuries onwards pilgrimages to the Holy Land became increasingly important. 9 The Crusades and the resulting establishment of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem acted as a strong incentive to undertake the long journey; and it may be assumed that the stories told by the returning crusaders and pilgrims also acted as a stimulus.

16

PILGRIMAGES

When in 1187 Jerusalem again fell into Moslem hands as a result of its conquest by Saladin, the sultan of Egypt, this did not put an end to pilgrim traffic. The Saracens did not deny Christians access to the holy places, although everywhere a considerable sum was demanded as an 'entrance fee' . 10 The pilgrims faced great difficulties; many of their accounts tell of extortion, and the fact that it was necessary to pay bribes to obtain any facilities is constantly mentioned. 11 With the re-opening of the Balkan route in the eleventh century Constantinople once more came within the scope of western pilgrims. It was perfectly possible to travel through Christian territory until well past Constantinople, and for many a traveller a stay in the city on the Bosporus, whether long or short, must have formed a pleasant break in the middle of the journey. 12 The Moslem expansion in Syria and eastern Anatolia in the thirteenth century, however, resulted in the overland route again being replaced by the sea passage. The difficulties which pilgrims experienced on their way through Moslem territory made more and more pilgrims prefer to travel by sea. The increased seaworthiness of ships and their improved nautical equipment made a Mediterranean voyage a less unpleasant and less hazardous undertaking in the later middle ages than in the preceding centuries. Basically, pilgrims could set out for Palestine from various Italian ports: Genoa, Pisa, Naples, Amalfi, Venice, Ancona and Bari are all mentioned in pilgrim's books as places of embarkation. The best facilities, however, were available in Genoa and in Venice, the two largest commercial towns of northern Italy, which were engaged in constant competition with each other. The fourth crusade gave Venice a temporary monopoly in traffic with Constantinople and the Levant. In 1261 Michael VIII Palaeologus re-conquered Constantinople, and in gratitude for their support he granted the Genoese great privileges: they were allowed to settle in Galata, on the far side of the Golden Horn, and received a trade monopoly for the Black Sea area (Treaty of Nymphaeum, 1262). 13 Trade along the Levantine coast, however, remained in the hands of the Venetians, and the transport of pilgrims to Palestine became very much a Venetian speciality. Pilgrim transport was so remunerative that for hundreds of years the city of the Doges maintained a special pilgrim service to the Palestinian coast, with regular departures at fixed times of year. 14 Each year round about Ascensiontide several ships left Venice

PILGRIMAGES TO JERUSALEM

17

with pilgrims on the journey to Joppa, which took about seven weeks. 15 This service continued to function until well into the sixteenth century. 16 It is of some importance to trace the route taken by these pilgrim ships, and to see at which places in Greek territory they put in for supplies,_The ships always followed the same ~oute, along the coast of !stria and Dalmatia, stopping on the way in the harbours of Parenzo, Rovigno, Pola, Zara, Curzuola and Ragusa. After Ragusa they came into Greek waters, where they put in at one of the Ionian islands. Their next port of call was the Venetian fort of Modon on the western point of the Peloponnesus. From there they set course past Cerigo to Candia, the port of the island of the same name (Crete), From Candia they sailed by way of Rhodes and Cyprus to the coast of Palestine, The pilgrims did not have a chance to see much of Greece on their travels. Their stay in the various ports was usually only short, and frequently permission was not given to leave the ship, so that it was practically impossible to make trips ashore. Famous places such as Athens, Constantinople and Thessalonica were not on the route, so were not visited, as deviations from the usual route were practically unknown. The captains had very little say in the matter, as the whole business of pilgrim transport was subject to strict control by the Venetian authorities. 17 Those who were unable or unwilling to make use of the official Venetian service generally set out from a port in southern France or in Italy, in a ship that was going in more or less the required direction. With many changes of ship, and often long waits for connections, it was finally possible by wandering from port to port to reach one's destination. Niccolo da Martoni, for instance, made the journey in this way, after the ship he was travelling on had sunk off the coast of Attica. Such travellers had the opportunity of seeing much more on the way than the pilgrims who hastened straight to their destination. Apart from Niccolo's account, however, few reports survive by pilgrims in this category. As well as the overland route and the sea route there was also a third much-used route to the Holy Land, and this, too, took travellers through the Byzantine empire. For those who considered the journey across the Balkans too difficult, but who did not wish to make a long voyage by ship, there was the possibility of combining the two modes of transport: a journey over land to the south of Italy, and then a short crossing by ship to Greece. In the south of Italy the way divided into a northern route and a southern

18

PILGRIMAGES

one, which joined up again in Thessalonica. It was possible to cross from Brindisi to Durazzo or Apollonia, and then to follow the path of the old Via Egnatia through the mountains of north Epirus and past Lake Lychnidus (Lake Ochrid); from there the road through north Macedonia gradually descended past Heraclea, AegQe and Pella in the direction of Thessalonica. The longer, more southerly route went from Otranto to Corfu and thence to the Greek coast, near what is now Igumenitza; from there one travelled through Epirus and on to the south towards the Gulf of Corinth, thus avoiding the high mountains of Epirus. By way of central Greece the traveller continued in the direction of Thessalonica; there began the road which ran along the Thracian coast to Constantinople. It may be assumed that from Thessalonica it was possible to cross by ship to the Holy Land. 18 The possibilities for visiting ancient ruins were probably not very great. Doubtless pilgrims did see some antiquities here and there, but the most important centres lay mainly off the normal routes. 19

2. Constantinople as a place of pilgrimage Constantinople was situated on the land route, but not on the sea route, which was the one used by most of the pilgrims to the Holy Land. Yet it appears from a number of travel accounts that the city on the Bosporus was also visited by pilgrims travelling by ship. On the return journey they made a slight detour north from Rhodes. What attracted the pilgrims were not the antiquities of which the city had many, nor the magnificent Byzantine monuments. Certainly they must have looked with admiration at the colossal church of Hagia Sophia, whose dome, rising above the city, was the first thing they would have recognized from a distance, It was not the unparalleled architecture or the beautiful decoration in marble and mosaic that attracted their attention; for the medieval pilgrim the only thing of any importance in Hagia Sophia and in many other churches and monasteries in Constantinople was the wealth of relics there. 20 This is made quite clear in the surviving fragment of a travel account by an English monk, Joseph of Canterbury (ea. 1090). 21 He explains his motive for deviating from the main route and abandoning most of his travelling companions as follows: ' .•.. rectum iter sociosque deseruit et cum suis tantum quibusdam famulis Constantinopolim secessit. Audierat enim ibi esse thesaurum reliquiarum incomparabilem quarum patrociniis cupiebat se commendare presentem'.

CONSTANTINOPLE

19

Constantinople is not mentioned in the Bible, nor was it known from the life of Christ, and it had nothing like the graves of the two apostle princes in Rome; but what it did possess was a number of very celebrated relics. 22 Many of them came from Palestine and Syria, and had been taken from there to the Byzantine capital from the seventh century onwards, to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Moslems. Although it was forbidden to trade in relics, ransoming these objects from the 'infidels' was not only allow23 ed, but strongly encouraged by the Church. In 1204 the churches and palaces were extensively plundered by the crusaders. Enormous quantities of valuables, but particularly relics, were shipped off to western Europe. The treasure chambers of many churches, monasteries and museums in Belgium and France today contain valuable relics and cult objects which came to the West from Constantinople in the years following 1204, as part of the loot of the fourth crusade. 24 In spite of this wide plunder the city remained famous for its many valuable possessions. From the thirteenth to the sixteenth century pilgrims' accounts constantly express admiration for everything that was to be seen in the churches and palaces of Constantinople. Some of these objects were th~ relics given to the Latin emperor and the Venetians in 1204, which in 1261 came again back in Greek hands. Besides these there was probably also no lack of imitations. For a number of western pilgrims a visit to the capital of the Byzantine empire involved a detour which they were only too happy to make, because the investment of time, money and energy involved was richly rewarded. For a little known but certainly not unimportant group of travellers Constantinople was of even greater importance. Countless pilgrims from Russia 25 and even from Scandinavia 26 travelled overland through western Russia to the Black Sea and from there continued to Constantinople. For them this city was often the first major stopping place on the way to the Holy Land, but quite often Constantinople was the actual destination of these pilgrims. The position of Constantinople in the eyes of eastern Christians can perhaps best be compared with the position of Rome in the spiritual life of western Christendom. It was from Constantinople that Russia had been christianized, and it was there that the patriarch lived; many church synods were held there, which the Russians also attended.27 Differences of opinion were, in a number of cases~ brought before the patriarch of Byzantium for solution. 8 For the Russians Compostela was too far away, and Rome less

20

PILGRIMAGES

attractive; for them Constantinople was the nearest of the great places of pilgrimage.

3. The value and the content of pilgrims' reports Anybody who is interested in the subject of medieval pilgrimage and who has studied a number of travel reports will be struck by the enormous energy - one is almost tempted to say fanaticism - with which these people attempted to reach their goal. In most cases people went of their own free will. The ecclesiastical practice of using pilgrimages as a disciplinary measure, sending believers -.especially priests and noblemen - on a pilgrimage as a penance for their sins (causa poenitentiae) was falling into disuse, and was hardly used at all after the thirteenth century. 29 The secular authorities, however, continued to use the pilgrimage as a punishment in the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries; for them a pilgrimage to a distant shrine was the equivalent of an exile lasting several years. 30 Yet the most important motive for making pilgrimages was one of piety. People travelled to the holy places primarily to pray there, to seek for healing from diseases of every kind, and to earn the indulgences which were connected with the veneration of relics. For noblemen the possibility of becoming a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre provided an extra stimulus to undertake the journey to Jerusalem. For many people everything else was subjugated to piety. Thus it was considered unseemly to give any thought to profane matters, although this did sometimes happen. Thomas a Kempis clearly expresses his disapproval of the attitude of many pilgrims: 'Many people go running off to various places to see the relics of the saints; they are filled with amazement at the miracles they did; they gaze at the great churches, and kiss the bones wrapped up in silk and gold ... Often it is curiosity and the love of novelty which take people to see such things; for this reason they return with little harvest in the way of improved lives, especially when they embark on such visits thoughtlessly and not in a spirit of penitence' . 31 Thomas is not alone in condemning an interest in affairs which were not directly religious or devotional. A fifteenth century Italian pilgrim, Santa Brasca, also sharply criticizes people who go on pilgrimages only so as to be able to boast afterwards: 'I have been there' or 'I have seen such and such' . 32 An extremely negative view of the results of pilgrimages can he found in the Annales Stadenses, 33 where the

PILGRIMS' REPORTS

21

author, a certain Master Albertus, remarks: 'I have seldom, in fact never, seen people come back any better for it'. A fine picture of the kind of rabble that could be found on pilgrimages is given by Jacob of Vitry in his Historia Hierosolymitana. The same writer also attacks the curiosity of many pilgrims. 34 The authors of pilgrims' reports who limit themselves strictly to the devotional aspects have, quite obviously, nothing to contribute to this study, which is concerned with the country, the people and the monuments. Canon Casola, for instance states that, whatever anybody else may think about it, he sees it as his duty to spend all his time while on the pilgrimage visiting churches and monasteries and venerating the relics housed in them. 35 Such a man is not likely to have written down any information of relevance to us. Casola even refuses to make the customary journey to the Jordan while in Palestine, giving as his first reason the excessive heat, and as a second, decisive, reason the fact that the expedition seemed to have been organized more 'out of curiosity for seeing the country' than for purely devotional reasons. 36 It is just as well for the present study that not all pilgrims behaved with such fixed single-mindedness on their journey£ a number (not a lot, it is true) of pilgrims' accounts contain, interspersed among the devotional elements, information based upon their observations on their travels. It was not, in fact, particularly common for people to record their travels in writing; it may be assumed that the great mass of pilgrims, who have remained anonymous, recounted the experiences of their long journey orally to their own circle of acquaintances on their return home. Only a few travellers, on returning to their native land, wrote down their experiences, either with the help of notes made en route or else from memory; in a number of cases their names and their work still survive. These surviving pilgrims' books seldom contain much more than a dull list of the places passed through on the journey, the churches and the monasteries where there were relics and perhaps also the extent of the indulgences which could be earned by visiting certain places. In the twelfth century this information, which was essential for pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem, was collected together in a sort of standard guide book. Such guide books were extremely carelessly put together, and contained innumerable mistakes and a great deal of nonsense. And yet they were constantly being copied and excerpts made from them, and were the source of most of the treatises

22

PILGRIMAGES

about the Via Sacra to Jerusalem. 37 In such works as these the author himself remains in the background; it is not his experiences which are important, but only the way in which the goal of the journey can be made accessible to others. Even the route to the Holy Land was not considered important. Often the description only begins with the landing on the coast of Palestine, and in other cases the journey is only painted extremely superficially. As an example of such superficial descriptions I quote - in French translation - the passage referring to Constantinople in the biography of Euphrosyne, the princess of Polotsk, who went on a pilgrimage in 1173: 'Etant arrivee premierement a la ville de Constantin, elle y fut re9ue avec honneur par l'empereur et le patriarche. Apres avoir venere les saintes eglises et beaucoup de saintes reliques elle se rendit Jerusalem' . 38 This category of pilgrims' accounts is totally useless for studying the state of the ancient monuments in Greek territories. Innumerable pilgrims visited on their journey a number of Greek cities and islands and saw remains of Antiquity, but their reactions to these can no longer be traced. This is quite understandable, since their stay in Greece was only of very minor importance by comparison with their goal, Palestine. Useful information is only to be found in those writers who, either deliberately or through force of circumstances, deviate from the usual pattern. Of these there are extremely few; I have not been able to find a single really useful pilgrim's report earlier than the mid-fourteenth century. 39 Up to that time material is extremely fragmentary, and only the odd sentence or paragraph from a few authors is of any importance. But between 1340 and 1440 some accounts were written which stand out from the great mass by reason of the wider vision and the greater variety of their contents. I have selected four authors who, in my opinion, deserve particular attention, and have devoted separate chapters to the life and the work of the German priests Wilhelm von Boldensele and Ludolf von Sudheim, the Italian notary Niccolo da Martoni and the Spanish knight Pero Tafur. The accounts that they wrote after returning from their journey contain a number of passages about Greece, Constantinople, Asia Hinor and the monuments to be found there. As well as the texts of these four authors, which provide rather more information, fragments are also included from the work of pilgrims such as Saewulf, Sigurd of Norway, Symon Semeonis and James of Verona. They, too, have made their modest contribution to our knowledge of medieval Greece.

a

PILGRIMS' REPORTS

23

Russian pilgrims directed their attention mainly towards Constantinople, and in various descriptions by Russian authors one comes across passages where there is evidence of some interest in the monuments in that city. Of the Russian pilgrims, Stephen of Novgorod, Ignatius of Smolensk, an anonymous author writing in the last years of the fourteenth century and the monk Zosimus are all exceptional, in that their interest in things other than the narrowly religious deviates from the normal practice. The same applies to the Armenians and Georgians. For them, too, Constantinople was an important religious centre, yet all that remains of the innumerable journeys (pilgrims and others) made by Armenian and other eastern Christians, is one anonymous report, from the fourteenth or fifteenth century. 40 The writers of travel descriptions mentioned above are all men; and judging from the sources available it would seem that pilgrimages to distant countries - and so to the Holy Land in particular - were undertaken mainly by men. Only few cases are known of women who went on pilgrimages to Jerusalem, but no stories of women pilgrims have survived. This distinction certainly did not apply to pilgrimages nearer home; both men and women took part in these, without distinction. It is hard to find any clear reason why so few women went to the Holy Land. Steinhausen has pointed out that in the middle ages women hardly ever travelled independently. 41 This was a step backwards by comparison with the days of late Antiquity: the journey of Paula and Eustochium is famous; while in the late fourth or early fifth century Aetheria, the mother superior of a Spanish convent, went on a pilgrimage to the Holy 42 Land, and wrote an account of it which has partly survived. The fact that the ecclesiastical authorities advised women not to go on pilgrimages, and sometimes even forbade it, can hardly have been responsible for the situation. The regular publication of such prohibitions, intended as a way of preventing excesses, shows just how ineffective they were. 43 The process of emancipation of women, which began under the influence of the crusades, must inevitably have led to greater participation by women in the longer pilgrimages. 44 Yet in spite of this the numbers of women travelling to Jerusalem remained very small, and they always remain in the background. Perhaps the difficulties encountered on the way, and the high costs involved, should be seen as the greatest obstacles preventing women from embarking upon pilgrimages to Jerusalem.

24

PILGRIMAGES

4. Benjamin of TudeZa Although pilgrimages to Jerusalem were generally Christian activities, it must be remembered that that city also attracted an increasing number of Jews. Amongst Jewish travellers descriptions of their experiences on the journey to Jerusalem are equally scarce, The account by the Spanish Jew Benjamin of Tudela, from the kingdom of Navarre is thus a unique document. 45 Between 1160 and 1173 he made a long journey through southern Europe and the Near East. His purpose was to visit Jerusalem and Bagdad; the latter was, at that time, a city of great importance for Jews,. as it was the seat of the 'Prince of the Captivity' , 46 On his travels he journeyed through Greek territory, and his description provides much interesting information about the situation in twelfth-century Byzantine Greece. In his account, which is written in simple Hebrew, Benjamin devotes much of his attention to trade, with which most Jews were concerned. Just as western travellers to the East regularly obtained lodgings with fellowcountrymen of theirs who were living there, so Benjamin directed his steps from one Jewish community to another, His work contains a very great number of names, not only of the places he visited but also of the people he met there. 47 For a twelfth-century work it contains relatively few fables and miraculous stories. Benjamin's route through Greece in 1161-2 can be followed very easily: Corfu - Leucas 48 - Anatolica (near Missolonghi) - Patras - Lepanto - Crissa - Corinth - Thebes - Negropont Jabustrisa (?) - Rabenica - Zeitun (potamo ?) - Gardiki and Armiro (both on the Gulf of Volos) - Bissina (?) - Salunki (Thessalonica) - Mitrizzi (near Amfipolis) - Drama (near Philippi) - Christopolis - Abydos - Constantinople - Rodosto (Bisanthe) - Gallipoli - Kilia - Mytilene - Chios - Samos Rhodes, and from there, by way of Cyprus and Tarsus, to Palestine. The places mentioned, and particularly the number of Jews there, give a good picture of economic activity in Greece, Thus it is possible to conclude from the route taken by Benjamin that at that time Athens was of little importance; he did not visit the city. The port of Thessalonica was also a place of relative unimportance, with only five hundred Jewish inhabitants. Apart from Constantinople Thebes was the most prosperous city: there were two thousand Jews living there, who were occupied with the manufacture of silk and purple robes; and according to Benjamin there were also many

WILHELM VON BOLDENSELE

25

scholars there. Not only Benjamin's journey through Greece, but also his visit to Constantinople is described in considerable detail. The antiquities and ruins which he saw on his wanderings through Greece did not interest him, but there were several things in Constantinople which did attract his attention. From his description the Byzantine capital under Manuel I Comnenus emerges as a prosperous, wealthy city. In the palaces and churches he sees innumerable treasures, and his description of the silk-clad citizens also evokes a picture of luxury and prosperity. Benjamin compares Constantinople, as a trading city, with Bagdad, which at that time was the great economic centre of the Islamic world. He particularly mentions the Hagia Sophia, the wealth of which surpasses all the other churches in the city. The newly built and extremely luxurious Blachernae palace also made a great impression on him: he mentions the wall decorations, which contained great quantities of gold, and recounts that not only the heroic deeds of the ancient Greeks are portrayed on the walls, but also those of Emperor Manuel himself. He was present in the Hippodrome for the games which were held annually round about Christmas.~ 9 The spectacle was something, according to him, unequalled anywhere in the world. Benjamin's description of Constantinople closes with the information that the Jews lived in their own quarter, in Pera, on the other side of the Golden Horn.

5. WiZheZm von BoZdenseZe In Germany the years between 1330 and 1350 produced two detailed descriptions of pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to the Sinai. Wilhelm von Boldensele and Ludolf von Sudheim both came from the Westfalian-Saxon area, and their works are so clearly connected that they will be discussed here together. In about 1332 a rich nobleman and his entourage embarked for the Holy Land from Naulon, a place on the coast near Genoa. 50 He is known as Wilhelm von Boldensele, but his real name was actually Otto von Nygenhusen, or Nyenhusen (Neuhaus). Biographical details about this pilgrim are few, even though in his time h.e must have been a striking figure. According to the chronicle writer Heinrich von Herford he was a 'vir in cursibus suis et fortuniis multum singularis' . 51 From the description of his journey which he wrote after his return in 1336 little can be learned about his person. From other sources, however, various things are known about him; the best information is to be found in the episcopal chronicle

26

PILGRII\IAGES

of Minden 52 and in the historical works of Heinrich von Herford in a passage dealing with the sixteenth year of the reign of Emperor Ludwig IV of Bavaria (1331-32). 53 The nobleman whose name was originally Otto von Nygenhusen lived for some time as a Dominican monk in the monastery of St. Paul at Minden in Westfalia. In 1330-31 he left this monastery without the permission of the authorities, which meant that he was automatically excommunicated. To escape recognition and to be able to start a new life he changed his name, and because his mother was a Boldensele 54 that was the name he 55 chose. He travelled to the Curia Romana at Avignon, and there obtained absolution for his offence. It is possible that he then became a member of the Order of the Knights of St. John, for when he recounts how, in the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem he dubbed two of his followers Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, he refers to himself as 'miles in coelesti Hierusalem' . 56 In Avignon he came into contact 57 with Cardinal Helias Talleyrand de Perigord on whose insistence he wrote an account of his pilgrimage after his return. I would not be surprised if it was the prelate who commanded him to undertake this pilgrimage, or in any case strongly urged him to do so. The reason he himself gives for his journey is a fervent desire to see the Holy Land, a desire which he had had since his youth. 58 Yet I do not believe this to be the only reason for Boldensele's long journey. At the time of his pilgrimage a new crusade was being seriously considered; in 1336, when Pope Benedict XII was officially preaching a new crusade, King Philippe VI of Valois and King Alfonso IV of Aragon were prepared to take up the cross immediately. Cardinal Talleyrand de Perigord was at that time a fervent supporter of this undertaking, but in fact it never got any further than the preparatory stages, because of the outbreak of the Hundred years' war. 59 I believe that the purpose of Boldensele's journey was not so much personal and religious as political and strategic. A clear picture of the situation in the Holy Land and a thorough knowledge of the geography of the area was essential for the success of a crusade. An educated and distinguished man such as Boldensele would have been eminently suitable for this task of reconnaissance. The fact that he had an eye for places of strategic importance can be glimpsed in his work. He mentions fortifications and city walls, and pays special attention to the place where the sultan used to hide his treasure chest in times of danger, in an old and exceedingly strong crusaders' fort to the east

WILHELM VON BOLDENSELE

27

of the Dead Sea. His remark that from the Mount of Olives there was a clear view of the whole city may also be regarded as strategically important. Much of his information about the distances between different places also points in this direction. Boldensele's account of his journey appeared in 1336, after his return from Palestine and the Sinai. It was entitled: 'Itinerarius Guilielmi de Boldensele in terram sanctam', He is thought to have died shortly afterwards in a Dominican monastery at Cologne, while on his way to Konigsaal in Bohemia. 60 The framework of Boldensele's work is much the same as the other pilgrim literature of his time, He, too, mentions innumerable relics and devotes most of his writing to the holy places. Yet his work is exceptional in that it also pays some attention to what can be seen in Greek territory on the journey through. Although there is little in the way of chronological information in the work itself, the dates suggested by Grotefend appear to be correct, 61 In the spring of 1332 Wilhelm seems to have left the South of France with a large entourage; at Christmas of that year he was in Syria, and in May 1333 in Jerusalem, His journey through Greece and his visit to Constantinople must have taken place in the summer of 1332, The main lines of Boldensele's journey can be traced, even though the geographical indications are occasionally rather confused, After journeying over land to Lombardy he continued by ship along the coast of Italy to Apulia, and then towards Constantinople by way of the Greek islands, From there the journey continued via Chios, Rhodes and Cyprus to the coast of Palestine, I do not share the amazement of Beazley at the route indicated by Boldensele. 62 It should not be forgotten that in the middle ages there was no question of direct shipping connections, with the exception of the special pilgrim service from Venice to the Holy Land. It seems to me that the rather round-about way of travelling and the endless wanderings from port to port all along the coast are exactly what emerge so clearly from Boldensele's account. His words: 'perlustravi litora Lombardiae ac Tusciae, Campaniae, Calabriae et Apuliae' well reflect how in those places he went along the coast from place to place, 63 It may be that on the way through Greek waters a visit was made to Athens; this cannot be definitely established from the travel account; as Boldensele is content merely to refer to that city as mater philosophiae. In Constantinople he was

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PILGRIMAGES

received by Emperor Andronicus Ill Palaeologus with all the courtesy due to an important nobleman, and on his departure he was the bearer of a message from him to the Sultan of Egypt. It may be assumed that he spent some time in the city and he was able to see many things of interest. He writes about the city's favourable position as a port, and about the many churches and palaces, richly decorated with marble and mosaics. According to Boldensele the Hagia Sophia cannot be compared to any other building in the world. His attention was especially attracted by the statue of Justinian I, near the Hagia Sophia. 64 He says that the bronze figure was covered with a thick layer of gold. The horseman wears a diadem on his head, and in his left hand he holds the orb as a symbol of the world ruled by Christianity, while his right hand is raised towards the East. Boldensele sees this gesture as a threat to possible rebels and enemies of the empire. The information that the statue stood on a high pedestal made of large stones completes Boldensele's description of the ancient monuments in Constantinople. Wilhelm von Boldensele was a cultivated man, and by no means uncritical. In Constantinople the offical reception of prominent people in~ eluded an inspection of a number of important relics which were kept in the palace. Emperor Andronicus Ill gave special permission for him to be shown Christ's tunic, woven in one piece throughout. This led him to the conclusion that the ·holy tunic on display in Trier, and the one in Goslar, could not be authentic! This comment, which was probably written down by the author himself, can be found in the margin of the relevant passage in the codex at WolfenbUttel. 65 His great education and knowledge are seen in the way in which he uses all kinds of quotations. Most of these are taken from the Bible, as was customary in the middle ages; in Boldensele, however, we suddenly find a quotation from Aristotle, when this rationalminded traveller to the court of Constantinople dismisses the supernatural explanation given to a problem of physics by his superstitious informants. 66 According to Boldensele the solution to this problem had already been given by Aristotle, and so he told the major-dome of the court. We can well imagine that this helped to increase even further the estime in which he was held at the court. Whether Boldensele had studied in Paris is a question which cannot be answered with certainty; but in view of his acquaintance with the works of Aristotle this possibility can by no means be ruled out. After leaving Constantinople the travellers visited

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Troy, 'illa antiqua et patens civitas'. We are told that the ships had to anchor in the mouth of the river, in the absence of a harbour. Hardly any remains were to be seen of the ancient city. 67 Like many other medieval authors Wilhelm refers to the mastic found on the island of Chios and the way in which the resinous liquid was obtained. 68 Patmos is mentioned in passing as the place where St. John wrote the Book of Revelation. Boldensele makes the interesting remark that the fine church of St. John the Evangelist at Ephesus had not been demolished by the Turks, the fate of so many other churches, but that the building was now used as a mosque. 69 Rhodes, the headquarters of the Order of the Knights of St. John, to which Boldensele may have belonged, is described as a healthy and pleasant place at a short distance from the Turkish mainland, but no description is given of the island. The description of Cyprus is rather more detailed, but here, too, the emphasis is not on any ancient remains which may have been seen. In the middle ages pilgrims liked to combine a visit to the Holy Land with a visit to the Convent of St. Catherine in the Sinai desert and a stay in Egypt. One very important piece of information is found in Boldensele's account of his travels, in his description of Egypt. One might say that suddenly he is far in advance of his contemporaries; it appears that he is interested in epigraphy. In the neighbourhood of Cairo he saw a number of pyramid-shaped monuments with writing on them in different languages. On one of them he found an inscription in Latin. In spite of his efforts he did not succeed in understanding the six-line description, 70 but he still wrote it down in his travel notes. As Ludolf von Sudheim, who is dealt with in my next section, also mentions the inscription, and not only gives several different texts of it, but also some further information, a discussion of the text will be found later, It must be mentioned here, however, that a Latin inscription of this sort is never found in ordinary pilgrim literature. Moreover, if we reflect that the interest in classical monuments began in Italy, but not until the early years of the fifteenth century, with the search for inscriptions, 71 then the importance of this passage is clear. That this text also attracted the attention of contemporaries is seen from the fact that soon afterwards Ludolf von Sudheim copied the same inscription into his note book. It should also be mentioned that in Egypt Boldensele again deviates from the usual medieval tradition, which regarded the pyramids as barns built by Joseph

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PILGRIMAGES

for the Pharaoh to store grain in; Boldensele saw them as 'monumenta antiquorum' 1 and he states, that with the exception of a small corridor the pyramids were not hollow, but solid. The importance of the work of Wilhelm von Boldensele within the framework of this study lies, I conclude, not so much in the significance of what it says, but in the fact that it says anything at all. The information given about Constantinople, Troy or the islands is not new or unknown. Yet I believe Beazley to be only partly right when he says that these passages contain 'nothing of real value or originality' ; 72 the fact that Boldensele writes sucn passages at all seems to me to be very important in itself. That a pilgrim to the Holy Land should also describe his journey there, thereby displaying interests beyond the mere listing of relics visited on the way; that he is capable of quoting not only from the Bible but also from one of the ancient writers; that he even goes so far as to copy down a Latin inscription - all this must be considered most exceptional for the period around 1335. Boldensele's work must very soon have attracted widespread admiration, for it has been handed on in various manuscripts. 73 As early as 1351 a French version appeared, translated from the Latin and adapted by a monk from the monastery of St. Bertin at St. Omer, a certain John Longus of Ypres. 74 The book was an important source for later authors, including, in the first place, Ludolf von Sudheim, and also the author of the document which bears the name of Jean de Mandeville. Both of them copied extensively from Boldensele's work.

6. Ludolf von Sudheim Despite its many borrowings from Wilhelm von Boldensele the travel account of Ludolf von Sudheim is nevertheless a work which is well worth looking at for its own sake, Ludolf himself is convinced that he is not an original author; he says of himself: 'nullus credat me omnia et singula ... oculis vidisse, sed ex antiquis gestis bene aliqua extraxisse, at aliqua ex veridicis hominibus audisse' . 75 He considered this borrowing of a number of facts from other authors, and in particular from Boldensele's work, perfectly normal. The fact that he himself had spent five years in the Near East and had, during his wanderings there seen many things with his own eyes, is firmly stressed in the foreword

LUDOLF VON SUDHEIM

31

to his work. 76 He also sharply criticizes all those who after only a fleeting visit (ipsas partes semel transeundo) go about saying and writing things that are not true. It is no longer possible to find out who this criticism was aimed at; too many documents have been lost in the meantime. I do not, however, rule out the possibility that Ludolf's criticism was directed primarily at the work of Jean de Mandeville, the best know author of his time. It has since become apparent that this work is a forgery, and this writer actually never visited the places he describes. 77 It is quite conceivable that some of the passages in this work might well arouse the doubts of somebody who had travelled in the area in question. Although the route and the destination were largely the same for Wilhelm von Boldensele and for Ludolf von Sudheim, the circumstances in which the two German pilgrims made their respective journeys differ greatly from each other. Boldensele travelled independently, as a nobleman with a great entourage. Ludolf probably went as head chaplain in the train of a German knight who was in the service of the king of Armenia. 78 This may lend more probability to his claim that he lived among kings and princes, and at the same time explains why it was that he did not return home immediately after his pilgrimage. Very little is known about Ludolf as a person, because he hardly ever writes about himself. He presents himself in the dedication of his book as 'rector ecclesiae parochialis in Suchen paderbornensis diocesis'. Evelt has found a plausible solution to the problem as to which place was meant by this; 79 the most likely is Suthem (Sudheim), near Lichtenau in the Kreis BUren. It may be assumed that Ludolf originally wrote his work in Latin. Not only the fact that all the pilgrim literature of that time was written in that language, the official language of the Church, but also the dedication of the book to a dignitary of the Church, the Bishop of Paderborn, both point in this direction. The book is now known in two versions which differ in length but which show many similarities as to content. Schnath has pointed out that the short version (Osnabrlicker Fassung) must have appeared between 1341 and 1349, and the longer and better known one (Paderborner Fassung) between 1349 and 1361, 80 The success of Ludolf's book is obvious from the fact that within a short time several German translations appeared; it must soon have come to be used as a sort of handbook for pilgrims. In spite of this Ludolf remained relatively

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PILGRIMAGES

little known as a writer; this is most probably due to the fact that from the end of the fourteenth century all writing about the Holy Land was superseded by the exceedingly popular work under the name of Mandeville. The date of Ludolf's journey can be fixed between 1336 and 1341; 81 this is entirely borne out by chronological data in the work itself, and also by the information that in his time 'barefoot Brother Elias' was Archbishop of Nicosia. 82 That the purpose of the book was to serve as a guide for pilgrims is already evident from the first pages. There Ludolf explains which routes lead to the Holy Land: the route across the Balkans to Constantinople and the various sea routes. He does not say which route he followed himself; though it is clear that he describes a journey taken by 'galeyda' . 83 Paton 84 wrongly assumes that the route given in Ludolf's book was actually followed by him in that order. He has Ludolf travelling back from Constantinople and Troy across the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Seas to Corsica, and then, with a more detailed description of Sardinia, Crete and Cyprus, travel to Palestine. Two reasons account for this muddled description of the route: the fact that this part was copied almost entirely from the work of Boldensele, whose geographical information was not arranged in quite the right order; and the fact that Ludolf does not always succeed in making a clear distinction between events which happened on the way there and those which occurred on the homeward journey. In his description of Sardinia at the beginning of the book he mentions a heavy storm which he actually experienced in the vicinity of that island on his return journey in 1341. 85 Probably Ludolf, unlike most pilgrims but like Boldensele, set out from the South of France, In Avignon he could obtain the 'licentia' which was required for all Christians wishing to visit the holy places. 86 Only a few passages from Ludolf's work are of importance for the present study. His dependence on Boldensele for the description of Constantinople with its many relics, the Hagia Sophia and the statue of Justinian I is only too obvious. 87 Still following Boldensele he describes a visit to Troy. He states that not much was left of this once so powerful city, because any remains which came to light were immediately re-used as building materials. In the passage about Troy we come across the extraordinary medieval tradition that the entire city of Venice was built from materials salvaged from the Trojan ruins. 88 Neumann concludes from this story that Ludolf never visited antique Troy. He identifies what Ludolf calls Troy as a place in Dalmatia

LUDOLF VON SUDHEIM

33

called Tragurium-Trau. 89 The hypothesis that the ruins of this place supplied materials for constructing the great buildings of Venice is an extremely probable one. The medieval tradition may well be an indication of this, but I still question whether Neumann's conclusion is entirely correct. In the text he used, the OsnabrUcker version, Troy is mentioned at the beginning of the journey, but in the longer Paderborner version Troy is dealt with in relation to Constantinople, which makes it likely that here the reference is to Troy in Asia Minor. I do not believe that we should conclude from the confusion of the two places called Troy that Ludolf never visited Asiatic Troy; especially as there is no doubt at all that Boldensele 1 whose journey served in the main as a model for Ludolf, refers to the Troy of Priam. Moreover, there was a strong tradition in the middle ages that linked Priam's Troy to the Venetians. 90 A mixture of the two traditions, that of the descent of the Venetians and that of the origin of much of the material used in building their city, does not appear to be out of the question, During the voyage through Greek waters Athens is mentioned incidentally; it is doubtful whether Ludolf in fact saw this city. Judging from his description the city was of little importance in his time: 'haec civitas quondam fuit nobilissima, sed nunc quasi deserta'. Next he mentions the tradition that all the marble columns and the fine stonework in the city of Genoa originally came from Athens. 91 This also may be the result of the confusion of two places with very similar names, though I have not succeeded in establishing which places are involved. A second possibility is that Ludolf's information is, in fact, correct, and that the Venetians and Genoese used their trade monopoly to carry off large quantities of usable building material from Greek territory. 92 Ludolf is extremely brief on the subject of the Greek islands; only the mastic of the island of Chios is considered worthy of special note, and the fact that St. John lived in exile on Patmos. In Ephesus he mentions a church with a cruciform ground plan and rich decorations in marble and mosaic. 93 In his description of Rhodes he writes about the conquest of the island by the Knights of St. John. None of the antiquities on this island are spoken of at all; even the Colossus is not mentioned. The enormous wealth of the city of Famagusta, in Cyprus, made a profound impression on him. The precious stones incorporated into the many ornaments receive special mention. There is a definite possibility that there were also semi-precious stones, and ancient gems and cameos, but unfor-

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PILGRIMAGES

tunately Ludolf says that he dares not say any more about all these valuables. 94 In view of all this information, almost all of it borrowed from Boldensele, we may even doubt whether Ludolf did make this journey at all. He tells us nothing at all about what he himself saw or did in the course of it. Yet I do not believe there is any reason to doubt that the journey really took place; in particular the passages (of little relevance here) about the holy places, contain information which makes it probable that he was actually present. We may also wonder whether Boldensele and Ludolf perhaps both drew the material for their work from a common source. Although this possibility cannot be ruled out in the case of some of the information about Palestine, in the passages about the journey through Greek territory it is most unlikely. Both the scarcity of sources about the situation in medieval Greece, which is evident from this study, and the nature of the information given, suggest that Boldensele, in any case, is speaking from personal experience. Following in the steps of Boldensele and many other pilgrims Ludolf also paid a visit to Sinai and Egypt. He describes the same Latin inscription as Boldensele, and although there is certainly some question of borrowing, I do believe that Ludolf also went and saw the inscription for himself, since he says more about it than the Boldensele source can have told him. In this he differs from later writers, who mention this inscription, but without there being any question of them having personally inspected it. 95 Ludolf's interest may have been aroused by the passage about the inscription in Boldensele, and it is also possible that the text was a local tourist attraction which every stranger was proudly taken to see. Boldensele spoke of a text in several languages; Ludolf is more precise. According to him the inscription was written in four languages, Latin, Greek, Hebrew and 'multa quae ignorantur sunt insculpta', by which he may have meant hieroglyphic writing. 96 As a Westfalian village priest he knew no Greek, Hebrew or Egyptian, so he restricted himself to transcribing the Latin text, as far as it could be made out. Vidi piramides sine te dulcissime frater Et tibi quod potui lacrimas hie maesta profudi Et nostri memorem luctus hanc sculpo querelam Sit nomen Decimi Anni piramidis alti (sit = scit) Pontificis comitisque tuis, Traiane, triumphis. Lustra sex intra censoris consulis esse. 97 For Ludolf, as for Boldensele, the text is not entirely clear;

LUDOLF VON SUDHEIM

35

in any case he adds: 'expositionem horum versuum discreti lectoris iudicio committo', The person who translated it into the German vernacular also admits that he does not understand what the text means: desse versch vorsta eyn kloker man, ik versta er nicht, 98 Obviously what we have here is a pyramid text, which was written on one of the pyramids near Gizeh. The interpretation of these pyramids as 'Granaria Pharaonis' had already been shrewdly rejected by Boldensele. These pyramids were originally covered with fine stone plates, with inscriptions here and there, As these monuments were used in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries as quarries, only a few traces of the original covering remain, and of the inscriptions no sign can now be found. 99 The first five lines of the inscription are quite clear, but the sixth presents, in the form in which it has been preserved, insurmountable problems. The six hexameters form the lament of a sorrowful Roman lady for her brother, who under Trajan was a pontiff, the personal companion to the emperor and a consul, all by the time he was thirty. There are some slight differences between the versions of the inscription as recorded by Wilhelm von Boldensele and by Ludolf von Sudheim, but these make no difference to the meaning of the text. 100 Problems only arise when it comes to the name of the departed; in one version Boldensele calls him Decimus Cetiannus, while in other versions, as well as in Ludolf, he is called Decimus Annius. 101 Several different people may be referred to here: the consul of 127, Decimus Titianus, or the praefectus Egypti of 166, Flavius Titianus. 102 If, however, Decimus Annius is the correct version (but that gives a hiatus in the metre of the line) it could refer to the consul Annius Trebonius Gallus, who died in 108, 103 The sixth line is corrupt, and all efforts to restore it have so far been of no avail. 104 We therefore accept the fact that neither Ludolf nor Boldensele was able to read the text properly. and we can only hope that eventually new information will make 'iudicium discreti lectoris' possible, One other passage from the work of Ludolf von Sudheim must be examined more closely here: his version of the legend of the thirty pieces of silver, a legend which spread throughout Europe after the crusades. 105 It may be that Ludolf included this story as a result of being shown the silver pieces somewhere as relics. This is even more probable in view of the fact that a century later such relics were shown to Pero Tafur and to Felix Faber at Rhodes, 106 The story of the thirty pieces of silver largely resembles the legend of the Three

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PILGRIMAGES

Kings in a work by Johann von Hildesheim. 107 The essential idea behind both works is that nothing happens by accident. Thus the thirty coins remained together throughout all manner of vicissitudes, so that everything which had to happen was indeed fulfilled; only then were they scattered. There is an interesting passage in which the three Magi are said to have taken the oldest coins in their treasure chest with them as a gitt to the child Jesus. This distinction between old money and new, with preference given to the old, is something which can only be expected from about the middle of the fourteenth century; the idea was particularly prevalent in France. The dating of Ludolf's work, about 1350, is entirely borne out by this. Ludolf makes the remarkable claim that these coins were not silver, but gold; 'sed scriptura ipsos denarios argenteos appellat, quia antiquitas omne metallum argentum appellaverunt; sed nulli dubium quin fuerint aurei~ . 108 The claim that in ancient times all metal was refered to as 'silver' is entirely Ludolf's own. Yet his mistake is understandable, in the circumstances of his own time. He lived in the time when all international trade and financial traffic was conducted almost entirely in gold; Venetian ducats, Byzantine nomismata and many other sorts of gold coins were accepted as payments everywhere. Silver money played a far less important role, and was much less highly thought of. Monarchs made payments in gold, and a nobleman could only give gold pieces as presents. It is therefore quite understandable, against this background, that Ludolf even calls the authority of the Bible into doubt, stating quite positively that the coins in question must have been gold. It is not, in fact, impossible that a rather older gold coin was shown to pious pilgrims as one of the thirty pieces of silver. The question is whether Ludolf realized that the silver coins were ancient ones. Undoubtedly ancient coins were found regularly in the fourteenth century; but it is unlikely that in northern Europe people already made collections of them at that time. In Italy the situation was rather different; Petrarch (1304-74) is known to have engaged in numismatic studies. 109 Ludolf, however, cannot be expected to have been able to recognize Greek, Roman or Byzantine coins, or to distinguish them from each other. He was completely dependent in this upon what his informant told him, The information which the work of Ludolf von Sudheim provides about Greece and about ancient monuments and objects is certainly not very extensive, nor of substantial importance. The same is true of him as has been said about his predecessor,

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Wilhelm von Boldensele. When Ludolf's book is placed next to other pilgrims' books great differences can be clearly seen. Most of these works merely list a number of holy places and relics. Ludolf seems to have a wider scope; he is interested in all sorts of subjects, reads books by other authors, quotes from them when he thinks fit - rather too often for our taste - takes the trouble to study a remarkable inscription, and tells us something of his experiences on the way. We should not condemn him too harshly for the fact that he also includes stories about sea monsters threatening voyagers, or legends about the ruins of Athens and Troy; these form an integral part of medieval travel stories, and in this respect the work of Ludolf von Sudheim is no exception.

7. Niccolo da Martoni Not all the fourteenth-cent.ury travellers who set out on the long and difficult journey to the East were North Europeans. Among the pilgrims we also find Frenchmen and Italians, one of whom is of great importance for this study, He was an Italian named Niccolo, and came from Martoni, 110 a small place in the vicinity of Carinola, 111 , in Campania, There he practised his profession of notary, which made him, by the standards of his time, an educated man. Weiss has shown that in the eleventh to fourteenth centuries it was precisely people from the class of notaries in southern Italy who were intensely interested in the study of the Greek language, and that these 'hellenists' even practised the writing of Greek poetry, 112 Can it be a coincidence that the notary Niccolo gives such a highly detailed description of all sorts of interesting things that he saw in Athens and elsewhere in Greece? It is hardly surprising that the description is so detailed and exact; what else could we expect from a notary! 113 Niccolo da Martoni can be followed on his pilgrimage from day to day and from place to place; he always mentions the exact date. As an example I quote the opening sentence of his account: 'Anno Domini millesimo trecentesimo nonagesimo quarto, die decimo septimo mensis junii anni secunde indictionis, in vigilia Sacratissimi Corporis Domini nostri Jhesu Christi, ego notarius Nicolaus de Marthono ... ' 11 ~ As well as the year, day, month and indiction 115 there are also regular references to the calender of Church feastdays. The mention of special days such as Day of the Sacrament (Corpus Domini), Palm Sunday (Dominica palmarum) or fast days (car-

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nisprivium) also make it possible to date the events exactly.ll& It is pleasant to see how honestly Niccolo tells of his ups and downs. His is no dull, factual report, but a description of his personal experiences. The reader feels personally involved when, during a heavy storm, he creeps away, in fear and desperation, down into the depths of the ship, convinced that his last hour has come. In Cyprus we see him trying in vain to drive a yoke of oxen, having hired a cart to go to Nicosia to venerate the cross of the penitent thief. 'Ego nesciebam quid facere, quia numquam talem artem exercivi', he writes; 117 and the following morning, after a sleepless night in a verminous hut, he gets up very early and leaving the owner of the cart (who had spent the whole day making critical remarks about his driving) still peacefully asleep, he continues to Nicosia on foot. These personal details make Niccolo's book fascinating reading from start to finish. Greece was not the sole object of Niccolo's visit; he too, went as a pilgrim to the Holy Land. He had, moreover, a special devotion to St. Catherine. The threat of pirates and a shipwreck, however, made him set foot on Greek soil in places other than the normal harbours. Niccolo's route is easy to follow. The outward journey took him by way of GozoMalta, the Venetian towns of Koran and Modon, Cerigo (Citrini), the islands of the Archipelago, and the Dodecanese, with Rhodes as the most important of them, and finally to Alexandria in Egypt. It was only on the homeward journey that Niccolo visited Athens; then he actually went there twice. The first places Niccolo goes to in Greek territory are Koran and Modon. 118 According to him they had formerly formed part of the Angevin kingdom of South Italy, but the king had placed them under Venetian care to protect them against the Saracens.119 The next port of call on the pilgrim route is Cerigo. This is the place where most of the pilgrims' stories say that Helen was abducted by Paris. Apparently remains still existed of the temple where these two lovers were supposed to have seen each other for the first time, for Niccolo says: ' ... ad insulam Citrini, in qua erat et nunc est quodam templum' . 120 The Archipelago consists, according to Niccolo, of three hundred islands, some inhabited, some uninhabitable. He mentions the most important island , Chios, as the only place in the world where mastic grows. Trade in this valuable commodity brought the island more then 15,000 ducats a year.

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One of the nearby islands is Candia (Crete), which also belonged to Venice. This rich island, says Niccolo, produces excellent wines, and possesses a formidable military force; without much difficulty it can mobilize sixteen galleys, fully armed and manned. One interesting sight here is the 121 'Liberintum in quo alias fuit Minotaurus' . It is known that from the end of the fourteenth century, under the Venetians, visits were already made to what was then believed to be the Labyrinth.Y 22 Judging by the dates on which he travelled, however, it is clear that Niccolo did not visit Crete. The facts he mentions must thus have been things he heard on the way. Next Niccolo comes into the jurisdiction of the Knights of Rhodes. Via the islands of Lango and Niczari (Cos and Nisyros) his ship arrived at the island of Ssimie (Symi). This rather dull lump of stone is praised for the excellent quality of the wines produced on the island. Each day large quantities of grapes are sent to the market in Rhodes, and Niccolo also greatly enjoyed them during his stay in Rhodes: 'et multum comedimus dum fuimus ibi'. Before three o'clock on Monday July 13 our traveller arrives at the harbour of Rhodes. The first thing he notices is the thick walls of the city, but then his attention is taken by something else: on the jetty is a row of fifteen windmills. The construction of these windmills strikes him as so extraordinary that he does not think he can possibly describe them in writing. Such things, he says, can only be explained by a drawing, or with the help of the fingers. In his work as it has come down to us there are, however, no drawings; whether the original version contained sketches is not known. Niccolo is delighted with the gardens on this flower-filled island; above all, the air there is so healthy that people can be seen who are eighty, a hundred, or even a hundred and twenty years old. As a pious pilgrim Niccolo pays plenty of attention to the relics found on the island. A miracle worked there by St. Anthony is also recounted in detail. What makes the greatest impression on him, however, is the story that the 'ydolus' is said to have stood near the harbour. 123 This statue, according to what Niccolo was told, was so big that a ship in full sail could sail into the harbour between its legs. From the top of the statue - so his informants in Rhodes assured him - there was a magnificent view over a very wide area. Like many other medieval authors Niccolo da Martoni also connects the colossus of Rhodes with the Colossians to whom St. Paul wrote his famous epistle. 12 ~

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With the sentence: 'de factis Rodi plus non est dicendum' he closes his description of the Greek attractions which he visited on the outward journey. By way of Alexandria and the Sinai, Niccolo reaches the Holy Land, where he visits innumerable places. On January 24 1395 he is back in Rhodes. His desire to return to his fatherland had become so strong that in Beyrouth he had taken a ship to Cyprus without waiting for his fellowpilgrims. From there he travelled in another ship to Rhodes, where several problems arose. The captain would not enter the harbour at night, and by the morning the wind had changed to an unfavourable quarter, so that it was impossible to land. Moreover, the presence in the harbour of the Gatalan pirate Martinus Vincentius filled the captain and all those aboard with great fear. For that reason the ship continued to the north. In Lango (Cos) Niccolo found a small boat from the island of Symi, whose captain was prepared to take him and a few German fellow-passengers back to Rhodes for the price of one ducat. Back on that island Niccolo found hospitable lodgings in the same house he had stayed in on the outward journey. He now mentions two subjects which he had not mentioned on the way out: the giving of alms by the Knights of St. John, and which relics were to be found in the island's churches. Niccolo gives an extremely good description of the beggar women who use children as a way of working on the sympathy of the passers-by - a situation with which travellers to the Mediterranean are still confronted in our own day. Niccolo says that they borrow these children, so as to get a larger portion of food. 125 Next he goes on to give a list of all sorts of relics; the most important of these is a thorn from Christ's crown of thorns. On February 1 Niccolo embarks in a ship from Messina, with Venice as his destination. But his hope of soon being home was not to be fulfilled. One may ask why from Rhodes Niccolo did not head for Constantinople. His account of his journey gives no explanation, but I believe that it was the troubles in the Mediterranean which made it impossible to do so. In 1394-1401 Constantinople was almost continuously besieged by the Turks. The western army which hastened to its assistance was defeated at Nicopolis at the end of 1396. There were also wandering bands of pirates and bandits in the area, as we are regularly told in his account. 126 The first stopping place on the journey home from Rhodes is at the island of Lango. Here Niccolo goes ashore to visit the house of the philosopher-physician Hippocrates. Not much of it remained; he saw a beautiful

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spring with clear water, and a group of largely delapidated buildings which were used by the local inhabitants as pens for sheep and goats. 127 Then follows a most remarkable story about Hippocrates' daughter, who was able to turn herself into a snake at will, and the member of the brotherhood of St. John who promised to kiss her while she was in the form of a snake. 128 The journey past Nicosia (Naxos) and Paris (Paras) passes without difficulties. Niccolo, as was to be expected, connects the name of the latter island with the prince in the Trojan sagas. On the islands of Thermia the pilgrims are attacked on their homeward journey by marauding Catalan pirates. Niccolo and a few companions manage to escape in a small boat under cover of the night, and with the few possessions he has managed to salvage in a bag round his neck he hastens towards the town of Thermia, There a new plan is made for the return to Italy. Niccolo decides to travel to Corinth via Athens, which had recently been taken over by the Venetians. At this point we find a clear reference to an important moment in Athenian history. We know that after the death of Nerio I Acciajuoli in September 1394 the city was left by will to the chapter of the great Church of Mary (i.e. Parthenon). The chapter did not simply accept this legacy, but placed the city under Venetian government, and so in the last months of 1394 the Venetians took control of the city. 129 Once in Corinth, Niccolo hoped to find a ship heading for Venice. On the evening of February 23 1395 Niccolo da Martoni lands in Attica. The ship on which he was travelling could not put in to Piraeus because of a contrary wind; for this reason the travellers were put ashore at another harbour further along the Attic coast, at a place about thirty-five kilometers from Athens. 130 Near this harbour, according to our author, there were two marble statues, one of a man, the other of a woman. It is said that the woman, upon being followed by the man with wicked intentions, prayed to God for help, whereupon both of them were turned into marble, Judeich believes that the man referred to is the seated figure on the rock at the entrance to the harbour at Porta Raphti, which later became popularly known as ~~nb. 131 He assumes, moreover, that on another rock nearby that had acquired the name ~~on6u~, there used to be a statue of a woman. Niccolo can hardly be expected to give a clear description; we must not forget that he did not arrive until very late, and therefore was unable to get a close view of the statues, At night Niccolo sets off in the rain through the hills of

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Attica, and early next morning (February 24, 1395) he enters the civitas Acthenarum. In this city, the Athens of 1395, where Niccolo finds 'multas columpnas et multos lapides mar132 moreos qui nunc iacent ubi ipsa civitas fuit hedificata' , Niccolo himself will be our guide. He begins by stating that formerly, in the time of Emperor Hadrian, the city was larger than in his own time, The ruins found all over the surrounding countryside, and perhaps also the inscription on the Gate of Hadrian, 133 brought him to this conclusion. The suggestion that the city was devastated by the Trojans after Hadrian's time is a mistake on Niccolo's part. He is probably referring to the invasion by Germanic tribes in 267 A.D. when the city was plundered and destroyed by the Heruli. 134 The city itself lies on a plain 'intra duos montes', between Hymettus and Aegaleus, two mountain ranges which do indeed, as he says, lie six miles (8.8 km.) apart. In medieval times there were still olive trees growing on some parts of the plain. What is more important is the information that in Niccolo's time the population was concentrated 'prope castrum civitatis', so at the foot of the Acropolis. At the end of the fourteenth century the city was certainly not large. Niccolo estimates the number of houses at about a thousand, which would tally with a population of between three and five thousand people. While he was in this long-famous city anyway, our traveller made up his mind to see something of the 'res antiquae~ His request to some of the local people to act as his guide 135 is immediately granted, and so it is that he soon finds himself standing next to two fontes aquarum. In former times students from the schools of philosophy who came to Athens used to have to drink from these 'pro acquirenda scientia'. These two wells or spring-covers were 'pulcherrime laborati et fabricati cum lapidibus marmoreis'. Niccolo is the only writer to mention these wells, and for this reason we cannot tell for certain exactly what it was that he saw. The most likely solution is that which associates these springs with the remains of some waterworks on the south side of the Acropolis. 136 The next monument which Niccolo describes in detail is the 'studium Aristotelis'. This was a building measuring twenty feet by sixteen; it was roofed over and covered with sheets of marble, and was decorated in gold and other colours. At each end it was still possible to see enough of the construction to give Niccolo an idea of what it must originally

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have looked like. Joined on to this building, he says, was a large atrium with a porticus, which he says was where Aristotle used to walk sometimes, when he was tired, for recreation. Apparently Aristotle's way of teaching was no longer properly understood in the middle ages. 137 This is another of the buildings described by Niccolo of which no remains can now be found. Judeich suggests the remains of the skene of the Dionysian theatre and the nearby stoa. But in this south-eastern corner of the city there were still, in the middle of the last century, all kinds of ruins to be seen, which later fell prey to the construction of the Leoforos Dionyssiou Areopaghitou. Paton points out that in many of the travellers' descriptions the 'studium Aristotelis' is situated either near the aqueduct of Hadrian on the Lykabettus, or else near the monument of Thrasyllus on the south slope of the Acropolis. 138 From Niccolo's description it seems most likely that he was referring to the latter. There is no doubt at all, however, about the identification of the next building he visits. The 'magnum hospitium dicti imperatoris Adriani, quod est dirructum' can only refer to the temple built by Hadrian to the Olympic Jupiter. Until 1673139 the Olympieion is always referred to as the palace of Hadrian. Niccolo's description is not, in fact, entirely correct: he counts only twenty columns, but several decennia later (in 140 1436) Cyriacus of Ancona was to find twenty-one of them. Our author probably prefers to count in round numbers. He estimates the height of the columns as eighty palms, and says they were so thick that it would take four people with outspread arms to encircle them. 141 The statement that a palace was built on top of these columns is found in several places in medieval travellers' tales; this invention must have formed a part of the 'local tradition', for no ancient source can be found to account for it. The story may have grown up because at that time the architrave was still built up on a large number of columns. There were also the remains, on the top of one of the pillars, of a construction built there by a hermit. When Niccolo looks round to the north west his attention is taken by the Gate of Hadrian, which he refers to as the 'introitus dicti castri'. He sees this fine monument as the entrance to the palace of Hadrian. He may possibly have known the Greek alphabet, and so have been able to decipher the name A6PIANOY which was clearly visible, inscribed on the arch. Nothing could then be more probable than that he should

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see the two buildings, both of which bore the name of the same Emperor, as the remains of one complex of buildings. In this case 'castrum' cannot mean the Acropolis, as is seen from the word 'dictum', which Niccolo always uses to refer back to something he has already seen or mentioned. Moreover, the description of the Acropolis in the following chapter opens with the words 'deinde accessimus ad castrum ipsius civitatis'. Thus Niccolo must also have seen the palace of Hadrian as a castrum, or fortification. The author makes a delightful comparison between the Gate of Hadrian and that of his own city of Capua. Both gates, he says, are equally fine, though the one in Capua, built by Frederick II as a towered entrance gate, is greater in terms of size. 142 Before climbing the Acropolis Niccolo first visits a large bridge, situated outside the city, Although the information he gives is highly legendary in character it is still possible to make out what it was he saw: 'ubi alias milites pugnabant de ventura, currebant ab utroque latere et in medio ipsius pontis fiebat pugna'. The bridge can be none other than the Stadium bridge over the Ilissus, and in the soldiers charging at each other across the bridge we can recognize reminiscences of the ancient games, Now Niccolo does an about turn and moves westwards to the entrance to the Acropolis, Here he sees 'quedam sala magna in qua sunt columpne magne XIII. Supra quas columpnas sunt trabes longi pedibus triginta, et supra ipsas trabes sunt tabule marmoree; magnum et mirabile opus videtur'. Without doubt this description refers to the palace in the Propylaea, as Le Grand has already observed in his edition. 143 In the middle ages the Propylaea had become a part of the fortifications, and no longer formed the entrance to the Acropolis, which had been their function in antiquity. (see the Travlos drawing), How Niccolo got at the number of thirteen columns was formerly not entirely clear. The four pillars at the back could certainly not be seen at that time, The six columns of the passage were visible. Judeich believes that from the front only four columns were visible, and therefore adds on the three smaller pillars of the picturegallery to arrive at the required number of thirteen columns (4+6+3), An examination of the detailed drawing by Travlos, however, suggests what I consider to be a better solution, Most probably Niccolo referred to the six inner pillars plus the six on the front - which was, it is true, walled up, but in such a way that the columns were still visible, A small

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corner pillar of the picture gallery should also be included, which could be seen from the hall (6+6+1). 1 qq It may be taken for granted that at the time of Niccolo's visit the Venetian governor resided in the Propylaea palace. Once Niccolo arrives at the Acropolis his attention is immediately attracted by the great Church of St. Mary, the Parthenon, which had been converted into a Christian church. At that time the Parthenon was the cathedral of the Latin Christians. To make the measurements clearer to his readers he compares it with the great church of Capua, which he says must be about the same size. The church, he tells us, is constructed of large blocks of marble, fixed together with lead clamps. Round the church there are sixty columns. Once again his figures are approximate rather than exact; a few decennia later Cyriacus counts fifty-eight, which is, in fact, the right number. Each pillar was higher than the length of the ladders used for the wine-harvest - a pleasant way of describing their size, though rather vague; five men were needed to enclose the circumference of one such column. 1 q 5 From Niccolo's description we can make out that the church had at least a partial upper gallery. A reconstruction of how the church was most probably arranged at the time of our traveller can be found in the book by Michaelis about the Parthenon: the letters B-B-C on his plan refe~ to the upper gallery, which he believes to have been in use as a yuvaL~VL~~~ 1 q 6 , Since then the idea once current that in medieval churches there was a separate part set aside for women has been abandoned. It is now assumed that the women did not sit in a separate gallery. On one of the inside pillars a cross had been drawn; Niccolo uses this as the starting point for telling a legend about St. Dion~sius. In medieval and later texts Dionysius the Areopagite 1 7 is regularly confused with St. Denis, the first Archbishop of Paris and the patron saint of France. 1 q 8 Niccolo, too, seems to mix these two up with each other. The width and height of the main entrance are given exactly; they were four and five cannae respectively. 1 q 9 Then fact again gives way to legend: the doors of this entrance are said to have come originally from the gates of the city of Troy; after the sack of Troy they were carried off and used for the church of St. Mary in Athens. That the church had two naves, one behind the other, is easy to imagine after a look at the ground plan in Michaelis. 150 There can easily have been altars both in the narthex (K) and in the apse (E). The story that the first altar in the world was set up in

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this church by St. Dionysius must be regarded as a pious legend. Four thick pillars made of jasper 151 support a fine ciborium above the main alter (F on the plan). These pillars must also have been of considerable size; the height was two cannae, the circumference the armspan of two men. There was also a cistern in the church, which was fed by rainwater. For a long time this cistern was thought to date from Turkish times, when the building was used as a mosque and a lot of water was needed for the rites of purification. Niccolo, however, provides proof that the tank dates from much earlier than the Turkish period. A richly bejewelled icon of the Panagia, said to have been painted by the Evangelist Luke himself, 152 is carefully preserved and venerated in a side chapel. The total number of columns inside the church is estimated by Niccolo as eighty. This figure may be approximately correct if we bear in mind that on the balustrade, which itself rested on pillars, there were more pillars which supported the roof. The extraordinary phenomenon of a patch of light on the wall which was said never to go away is explained by the author in transcendental terms: it was believed, he said, that the body of a saint was shut up behind the wall at that place! The fact that the patch of light actually came from a sort of window that was concealed by a sheet of marble or a plate of alabaster completely escaped him. 153 The list of a number of relics which were the pride of the church is of no great importance here. The reference to an old Evangeliarium, on the other hand, is interesting. This was said to have been written by St. Helena in golden letters, in Greek, on parchment. This therefore must have been a 15 codex aureus, written in Old-Byzantine script. ~ Outside the walls of the Acropolis Niccolo sees two pillars on which, it is said, there had once been an idol with apotropaeic powers. The statue was said to have the power to keep enemy ships away from Athens. This legend is found again in later authors; the origin of the tradition must be sought in Antiquity, when a Gorgon was placed on the wall of the stronghold. 155 This Gorgon, made of gilded bronze, was dedicated by Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the theatre of Dionysus. 156 The two pillars probably formed part of a choreic monument, possibly that of Thrasyllus, that was lost only in 1827, during the siege of the Acropolis. Here Niccolo ends his tour of Athens. He has only visited part of the city, and a number of important monuments, such

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as the Theseum, the Tower of the Winds or the Monument of Lysicrates have not been included in his sightseeing, Niccolo limited himself to the area South-east of the Acropolis. On Thursday, February 25 1395 Niccolo leaves Athens, with four companions. Because of a quarrel between Theodorus Palaeologus, 157 the Despot of Mistra, and Carlo Tocco, Count of Cefalonia about the inheritance of Nerio I, it is impossible for him to travel overland to Corinth. He therefore sets off for Negroponte (Euboea) in the hope that in that Venetian colony he may find a ship going in the direction of his fatherland. That Athens, which he had just left, was not a prosperous city, is best seen from his remark that they had to travel by donkey because in Athens there were no horses for hire. On that day Niccolo again escapes from a great danger: wandering bands of Turkish horsemen, mercenaries in the service of Carlo Tocco, made the area unsafe, robbing and plundering whatever they could lay hands on. Niccolo came to a certain road just one hour after one such band had passed by; and then to think that the delay had been caused that morning by the man who hired out the donkeys! According to Niccolo this was clearly an expression of the will of God: 'Voluit Deus quod quidam de Acthenis nos ille die decepit de asellis per eum nobis premissis'. At the next 158 stopping place, Zucchamini (Sykaminon), he is waylaid by heavily-armed horsemen. But once he has been identified as a non-Turk he is treated with great hospitality. The next day the Governor lends them horses to ride to the coast, after which a fisherman takes them in a small boat to Negroponte, where they are again given a warm welcome. Niccolo describes this island in a fair amount of detail. It is about three hundred miles in perimeter, and some parts of it lie quite close to the mainland. 159 Its most important town, also called Negroponte - the former Chalcis - was not, it is true, very large, but was densely populated with Greeks and Franks. Niccolo estimates the number of dwellings on the whole island as about fourteen thousand - fourteen times as many as in Athens! Before Niccolo's time Negroponte must have been even larger, but wars had taken their toll, Outside the city, according to our author there were 'alique habitationes et antiqua hedificia'. Whether he is referring here to ancient remains or to the remains of medieval buildings is not clear from his description. There are at least two Latin monasteries on the island, one Franciscan, the other Clarissan. After mentioning the medieval fort Castrum Fata Morgane Niccolo describes the two wooden bridges which led to the

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city from the mainland. Both bridges were closely guarded at all times by armed men. On either side of the town there was an anchorage for ships, so that they could always come in to load and unload their merchandise, regardless of the direction of the current. This current, which flowed constantly back and forth past the place was put to good use. Three watermills had been placed in the stream of the current, constructed in such a way that they could be in continuous use; in this way each mill brought in a sum of fifty ducats annually. 160 While he is on the island Niccolo has a good look round. He admires the strong, towered walls of the city, but also the noble and wealthy men and the beautiful women. He has plenty of time to do so; for forty days he waits in vain for a ship. Finally, at his wits' end, he decides to return to Athens. And so after breakfast on Friday April 2, 1395 back he goes; by ship to the mainland, on foot to Zucchamini and from there, in constant fear of Turkish or Albanian robbers, back to Athens. On the Saturday before Palm Sunday 1395 Niccolo is back in Athens. This time we are to have no description of monuments. But he does write one sentence which shows clearly how ex~remely unimportant Athens was at that time. He is compelled to lodge with the Bishop's chaplain, in view of the fact that there were no inns to be found in Athens. 161 The next day, Palm Sunday, immediately after the Palm Sunday service, our traveller leaves in the direction of Megara. After fifteen miles (22.2 km.) the remains of Lippissinox (Levsina-Eleusis) come into view. From the great number of ruins, columns and pieces of marble lying about everywhere he draws the conclusion that this must once have been an important place. The remains of an 'aquaduct' receive special mention: 'et aqua fluebat ad dictam civitatem per quosdam conductos fabricatos cum pileriis et archis per quos descendebat a quibusdam montibus ad ipsam civitatem'. An aqueduct is not mentioned among the excavated remains of Eleusis. I believe, therefore, that Niccolo is mistaken on this point, and that the curved construction mounted on pillars which he saw was not an aqueduct but a bridge. About a kilometre outside Eleusis as one approaches it from Athens, on the left side of the road, near the hamlet of Kalo Pigadi, there are the remains of an old four-arch Roman bridge, about fifty-five metres long and five and a half metres wide. 162 This bridge, which is made of large blocks of porous stone, was built in about 124 A.D. under Emperor Hadrian, over the River Cephisus, which at 1

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that time flowed past Eleusis. The path of this river has since changed, because of the water finding another way underground. It is probable that in Niccolo's time the riverbed was already dry, so that the function of the construction as a bridge was no longer obvious. It was thus to be expected that the author should compare it to the aqueducts which he knew from Italy. How Niccolo comes by the information that in its prime the city had a perimeter of ten miles (14.8 km) we cannot, unfortunately, discover. When Niccolo arrives at night at the gates of Castrum Metre (Megara), he is made to wait outside. Megara was a small fort, containing about eighty dwellings and situated on a fertile plain. Here, too, there was anxiety about the fighting between the rulers of Mistra and Cefalonia. For this reason he stays at a small wayside chapel, and although the situation is not without danger he enjoys an excellent night's sleep. The next day he and his four companions embark in a boat which is so small that there is hardly room for them all. In the evening they reach the harbour of Coranti, a small place on the Saronian Bay, about fifteen miles from the actual town of Corinth. Here, too, the fighting between the Despot of Mistra and the Count of Cefalonia is the talk of the day. An attack by the Despot on the city of Corinth had just been beaten off by Carlo Tocco with the help of the Turks. There were Turkish soldiers roaming about everywhere in the vicinity, and it was considered practically impossible to reach the city of Corinth in safety. Yet Niccolo decides to risk it, and with a few local men he manages, after a hard journey by night, to reach the city on top of the mountain. The situation there was far from rosy; it was impossible to buy bread, and, just as in Athens, there was no inn. In Corinth, however, Niccolo and his friends are also hospitably received at the house of the archbishop. According to our author all sorts of astonishing stories are told in the West about Corinth, which are not true. Thus he will make known the true facts of the matter. Previously, in the time of King Alexander (the Great) the city was not situated on top of the mountain, but between the mountains and the sea. The ruins which are still there give some idea of its size. During the Roman siege a terrible fire broke out; it completely destroyed the city so beloved by King Alexander. 163 The new city was built on top of the mountain and was surrounded by a wall about two miles long. According to Niccolo the walled-in part is, in his day, very

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largely empty and bare; only here and there are a few delapidated little houses to be seen. He estimates the total number of dwellings as about five hundred - half the already meagre number found in Athens. With Corinth belongs the Isthmus; at that time this narrow strip of land was known as the Examilia, on account of the distance between the harbours on its two sides, which is about six miles. 16 q Niccolo says it was King Alexander who attempted to dig a way across, so that the Peloponnesus would become an island. Traces of this digging, which was actually undertaken by Emperor Nero, 165 were still visible in medieval times. Apparently the extremely rocky ground made the job impossible, so that the work had to be given up. The wall which runs across the width of the Isthmus is also mentioned. This is also said to be the work of King Alexander. In Niccolo's time parts of the wall were still in good condition, while other parts were in a state of extreme decay. 166 After all his rather unfavourable remarks about the city and the Isthmus Niccolo does then give some information of a more favourable nature: the dried fruits (currants) and figs of this region were of an exceptionally high quality! For the first time after months of misfortune some good luck now, at last, befalls our traveller. The Count of Cefalonia wanted to evacuate his wife from the city of Corinth to his own much safer island, and gave Niccolo leave to join the company. In this way he travelled with a strong escort to the western harbour. Before leaving the city, however, he first paid a visit to a little church which was dedicated to St. Paul. This, according to the local tradition, was where he wrote his letters to the Corinthians from prison. The pious visitors were also shown a cross which he had scratched on a pillar. 167 In the harbour there were two brigantines waiting, one for the Countess and here train, and one for the others, including Niccolo. The voyage from the Gulf of Corinth to Patras went off without problems. In that city there was again no inn to be found, and again it was the Archbishop who put the pilgrims up. 168 Inns were apparently exceedingly few and far between in medieval Greece! Niccolo has something of particular interest to say about the episcopal 'palace': it contained a room twenty-five paces long, on the walls of which was painted the 'tota ystoria destructionis civitatis Troye•. 169 We should like to have heard more about this, for very little is known about this kind of medieval Ilioupersis painting; unfortunately Niccolo is content merely to mention its exist-

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ence and no more. In Patras he finds a ship to take him to the island of Gorfo (Corfu). For one last time he is to find himself in danger of his life when a tremendous south-westerly gale blows up. By the skin of their teeth the ship and its crew are saved, and on April 20 1395 Niccolo sets foot on dry land at Corfu. There still remains the crossing from Greece to Apulia and the rest of the journey home. We shall not accompany him any further on his journey, however, for the remaining events are not relevant to us here. We are left with the question of how important Niccolo da Martoni's description of his travels is. In answer to this question several points can be made. In the first place, the author gives an exceptionally clear picture of the great difficulties involved in travelling at that time. As a result it is easier to understand why it was that so few people undertook such distant journeys. It is also important that Niccolo keeps accurate note day by day not only of things of interest to a pilgrim, such as churches and relics, but also of what he sees and hears on the way. The great value of his work, however, lies in his description of Athens as it was in 1395. Shortly after the Catalan period, a period of regression and decay in the history of the city of Athens, the Italian notary visits this city. The picture he gives of it is indeed a sorry one. The city was small, much of it lay in ruins, and visitors could not even find decent lodgings there. Yet as Niccolo goes round it his thoughts are full of its glorious past, of the time when Athens was the greatest city in the Greek world. It was not his intention, when he set out on his travels, to visit the antiquities which reminded him of that time, but now that he finds himself in this city he is quite happy to go and look at them. He is thus the first western-European to confront us with the state of the ancient monuments of Athens. He should not be blamed for the many legends and stories which he mentions in his account. On the contrary, they show how certain reminiscences of antiquity have continued to live on throughout the centuries, even if the ancient core has been so changed by later additions that it is now barely recognizable. The fact that he only visited part of the city makes his description no less valuable. As well as his description of the Athenian monuments there is another aspect of Niccolo's work that deserves our attention: here and there he mentions a number of historical events which form a welcome addition to our knowledge of the history of Greece in the middle ages. This is particularly

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true of the complications surr0unding the inheritance of Nerio I. Not all these facts are entirely new, but at various points they fill in details in the existing picture. Finally, his description of the Greek mainland and the islands provides very welcome information about the situation in that area at the end of the fourteenth century. The great accuracy of this author's work makes his account particularly valuable. In the work of Niccol~ da Martoni we have a unique document, that gives a great deal of information about the Greece of 1394-5 in general, and about the Athenian antiquities in particular.

B. Pero Tafur It is a pity that so little attention has been devoted to the description of the long journey through large parts of Europe and Western Asia by the Spanish nobleman Pero Tafur, for his narrative contains some exceptionally valuable information. The fact that the account of his travels only survives in one manuscript in a Spanish library 170 is probably the reason why he has remained unknown for so long. The first printed edition only appeared in Spanish in 1874; 171 this was followed in 1926 by an English translation with some commentary.172 In 1938 Vives devoted a critical study to the author and his work. 173 In the prologue to his work the author explains what it was that made him visit such distant countries. For a nobleman, he says, there is the opportunity while travelling to display bravery, and to show oneself worthy of one's ancestors. What is more important to Pero Tafur, however, is that in foreign countries one's view can be widened through contact with other forms of government and ways of life. Certain valuable elements can then be introduced into one's own country, to the benefit of the whole nation. 174 These and other reasons cause him to leave his native city, Cordova, in 1436. At this time he is probably about twenty-five years old. After having first taken part in an unsuccessful expedition against Moorish Gibraltar, he arrives in Genoa round about Christmas in 1436. He says that this city was apparently founded by Prince Janus of Troy, who had travelled to the West after the Sack of Troy. The tower-like houses and the situation of the city on a mountain above the sea suggested, according to Pero, that they were the work of a defeated man. He saw the legend about the founding of Genoa illustrated

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between the arches of the nave of the cathedral of S, Lorenzo.l75

From Genoa he travels on to Venice, the most important port of departure for pilgrim ships. In the meantime, in Bologna he receives from Pope Eugenius IV, who is there for the Council of Florence-Ferrara, a licence to visit the Holy Land. Because there are no pilgrim ships leaving before Ascension Day, he employs the months in between to travel round Italy. He visits, among other places, Rome, Perugia and Assisi. The visit to Rome was not entirely satisfactory, for when Pero asked for information about the ancient remains to be found in that place he was unable to find anybody who could enlighten him on the subject at all. 176 These antiquities appear to interest him very greatly; he does not only visit churches for which indulgences could be obtained, but also refers to a number of ancient monuments and ruins. He mentions the old Church of St. Peter, and the great obelisk nearby. 177 He sees the statue of Marcus Aurelius which was placed by Michelangelo on the Capitol in 1538, then still in front of the St. John of Lateran, where it had stood since the twelfth century. In the middle ages its identity was not known, for one tradition identified it as St. Constantine and another as a certain legendary Marcus while Pero sees in this horseman the equally legendary figure of Mucius. 178 The Colosseum and a Colossus arouse his admiration, as does the imperial palace on the Mons Palatinus, which Pero says is the palace of Augustus. The Column of Trajan gives him the opportunity to mention that Trajan was a fellow countryman of his, from Pedraza in Castile. It is typical of his attitude to these ancient remains that in three separate places he mentions the action taken by Pope Gregorius 179 against the monuments of antiquity. Because Gregorius was of the opinion that many pilgrims displayed excessive admiration for the old buildings and ruins, the Pope had many of them destroyed, the better to divert attention from worldly affairs to spiritual ones. This was certainly held against him by Pero Tafur; it is clear from his account that he laments the decay of these once so magnificent buildings. The fact that life was not particularly safe in Rome in the fourteen-thirties is perhaps best shown by the presence of wolves, foxes and other wild animals inside the city walls. 180 At the end of April 1437 Pero Tafur is back in Venice, where he spends several pleasant weeks looking round the city;

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meanwhile he makes arrangements for the crossing, as was customary for pilgrims. 181 The journey to the Holy Land offers few problems; the ship calls in at the set places: Parenzo, Zara, Ragusa, Corfu and Modon. As they pass the Gulf of Patras Pero speaks of the city of Corinth, once so rich and powerful, but in his time largely depopulated. 182 The wall across the Isthmus receives special mention. Provisions are.taken aboard in the heavily fortified fort of Modon, and the ship continues by way of the island of Cythera, scene of Helen's abduction by Paris, (says Pero, following many medieval writers), arriving some forty-eight hours later at the island of Candia. Pero praises the great fertility and wealth of this island, mentions in passing the great uprising of the Greek and Venetian inhabitants against Venetian authority in 1363, 183 and then refers to the labyrinth in a single sentence: 'dizen que tres millas de alli esta aquel laberinto que fizo Dedalo, e otros muchos antiguos. • 184 From his description he does not appear to have visited the labyrinth himself; but it does appear that according to his source or sources it was situated in the vicinity of the capital, Candia, most probably near Knossos, about five km from present day Iraklion (i.e. Candia). In the slightly older description (about 1420) by Buondelmonti, the labyrinth is said to be near Ampelouzas, in the neighbourhood of Gortyn. The question of the location of the labyrinth will be examined in more detail in Part II. 185 It is not clear what Pero meant by the other ancient remains, but he may have been referring to some ruins of the Colonia Julia Nobilis, the Roman Knossos. Matton refers to a late-Roman villa with mosaics and a sixth-century basilica in that area. 186 From Candia the journey continues to Rhodes. Pero describes the city of the Knights, their Hospital and relics in the church of St. John, including 'grant parte de los dineros por que fue vendido Nuestro Senor' . 187 From Rhodes the last part of the journey to the Holy Land is made in one stage; an intermediate stop at Cyprus is only included in the itinerary on the return journey. Although the description of the holy places falls outside the scope of my subject, in Palestine Pero again shows his interest and his curiosity for important old monuments. With the help of a Portuguese renegade he disguises himself as a Moslem, and so manages to penetrate by night into the Temple of Solomon (the Omar mosque), an undertaking which does in fact come off, but which could have cost him his life.

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Christians were absolutely forbidden entry into this mosque; for this reason the description of its interior is a valuable passage in his work. 188 In the meantime Pero has decided to visit the monastery of St. Catherine in the Sinai, so he sets off via Cyprus for Egypt. From there he sets out with a caravan across the desert to the monastery, the journey lasting several days. There he meets another west-European traveller, the Venetian nobleman Niccolo de' Conti, who had spent more than forty years in the Middle and Far East. 189 Nicolo de'Conti manages to divert him from his plan for travelling further east by describing to him the dangers which would beset him on every side. The result of their conversations is a number of tales told him by Conti about mysterious India and the even more distant countries of Java and Ceylon. 190 Prester John plays, almost inevitably, an important part in these stories. 191 Returning to Egypt from the Sinai on October 27 1437 Pero Tafur arrives back in Rhodes. The journey had been fraught with dangers, for off the south coast of Turkey the ship had only just managed to evade Turkish pirates. The description of his second visit to Rhodes is interesting more from a historical than from an archeological point of view. Pero is present on the day of the death of Antonio Fluviano, the Aragonian grand-master of the Knights of St. John (1421-0ctober 29 1437). He describes in detail the procedure for electing the new grand-master. After a number of ballots the Prior of Auvergne, Jean de Lastic (1437-1454) is elected. 192 On the way to Constantinople the ship is wrecked off Chios, and Pero is rescued from the waves only with very great difficulty. From Chios he makes an excursion to the Turkish mainland, intending to visit Troy. Here, just as in Rome there is nobody who can answer his questions. The nature of a place which was called Ilium, a heap of ruins situated opposite the island of Tenedos, and the presence of other large ruins, make him think that what he sees before him is the Troy of Priam. What he saw was probably, however, nothing more than the much later Roman settlement of Troy. According to Pero the local Turks do not destroy the ruins; they regard them as relics, and build their houses up against them. 193 When, continuing his journey, he lands on Tenedos he has a good view from there of the ruins of Troy. On this island there even appear to be some local inhabitants who can tell him something about the ancient Trojan remains; unfortunately

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Pero does not say what they told him. When the ship has sailed through the Dardanelles into the Sea of Marmara he sees from a great distance - though his 'hundred miles' is somewhat exaggerated! - the Hagia Sophia, rising into view like a mountain. 19 ~ As they sail through the narrow strait a tower at Vituperio reminds him of Achilles and Patroclus. In Constantinople he is received most cordially by the emperor, John VIII Palaeologus. At his request the emperor gives order for the Byzantine archives to be searched, for one of the reasons for Pero's journey was that he wanted to obtain full information about his family tradition. His family was said to be related to that of the Byzantine emperors, being descended from a prince who had left Constantinople for Spain several centuries earlier as a result of a family quarrel. 195 The search of the archives produces the hoped-for result, as a consequence of which he receives an even greater reception at the court; thus he is even permitted to take part regularly in imperial hunting parties. When on November 24 1437 Emperor John VIII leaves for Basel in a last desperate attempt to enlist the support of the West by uniting the churches against the advancing Turks, Pero resists all the emperor's attempts to persuade him to accompany him, and stays behind in Constantinople. 196 He first wishes to pay a visit to the Sultan and to the ruler of Trebizond. From Constantinople he travels to the court of Sultan Murad II in Adrianople. His admiration for the Turks is evident from his description. Then he embarks for Trebizond and the Genuese emporium of Kaffa, on the Crimea. His description of the remote places Trebizond and Kaffa is extremely valuable. 197 He gives various particulars, for example, which are important for the chronology of the ruling family of Trebizond. Although the ruler begs him to prolong his stay in his little realm, Pero finally declines. One of the reasons for this is the fact that this ruler had entered into a mixed marriage with a Turkish woman, which was something Pero found reprehensible. 'As a good Christian' he makes this perfectly clear to him. 198 In Kaffa, at the enormous slave market, he buys three slaves, who were to serve him later in Spain. This was not considered reprehensible; on the contrary, a special papal Bull strongly encouraged the purchase of slaves - if they were Christians - because this was a way of preventing th'em from falling into the hands of non-believers. 199 Now follows the most important part of the work of Pero Tafur, his description of a number of ancient and Byzantine

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monuments in Constantinople. Before leaving for Trebizond and Kaffa he had already spoken about the conquest of the city by the Crusaders in 1204. In this connection he refers to the theft of relics which took place at that time, and also the theft of works of art and valuable building materials.200 The two immense pillars which he had admired at the Palace of the Doges in Venice - one crowned by the statue of a winged lion, the other by San Todaro (Theodorus) with the dragon, which he says were among the loot, as were the four large bronze horses which until recently adorned the facade of St. Mark's Cathedral. 201 On his return to Venice he will again speak of these antiquities stolen from Constantinople. 202 Having returned to Constantinople he asks the Despot Dragas, 203 who was temporarily in charge of government, to arrange a conducted tour of the Church of Hagia Sophia and its treasure chamber for him. The vast size of the building makes a great impression on him. Pero says that when the city was in its hey-day, some six thousand clergy were attached to this church but this figure is exaggerated. 204 The floors and lower walls of the church are covered with valuable stone plates. Pero is particularly interested in the high quality mosaics, which begin a spear's length from the ground, and with which the domes and arches are decorated. In particular he mentions a mosaic of God the Father 205 in the centre of the main chapel. Underneath the church Pero visits a cistern of gigantic size - the largest cistern he has ever seen anywhere. 206 In the treasure chamber he is shown many relics, most of which are related to the life of Christ and of Mary. In front of the Church of Hagia Sophia Pero's attention is caught by an equestrian statue standing on a very high column. He is told that it depicts Constantine on horseback and that from the direction in which his finger is pointing the ruin of Greece and Constantinople will come. He is also informed that the orb in the horseman's hand once fell down during a heavy storm. Only then, according to Pero's narrative, did people realize, when they saw the size of this globe, how immense the statue as a whole must be. The statue of the horseman, which many other authors also locate on the Augusteion in front of the entrance to the Hagia Sophia must be that of Justinian I. 207 Pero Tafur gives the interesting information that there have been some attempts at restoring the statue; th~ fallen orb has been restored to the rider's hand, and the horse has been anchored more firmly to the column with chains. The total cost of this restoration is

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said to have been 8,000 ducats. Pero completes his visit to the Hagia Sophia and its surroundings with a visit to a nearby market, where bread, wine and fish were sold. The next day Pero visits a church of St. Mary, where he says Constantine was buried. In this church he sees an icon of the Holy Virgin painted by St. Luke. The other side of the icon, he says, shows a scene from the Crucifixion. He describes in detail how, on certain days, the icon is carried in procession outside the church, a sight which he has himself been to watch several times during his stay in Constantinople.208 The Blachernae church (Valayerna) he finds in ruins, so badly damaged by fire that restoration is no longer considered possible. This church, which tradition said was built by Helena, was considered more beautiful than the Hagia Sophia. 209 The next church mentioned by Pero Tafur is that of the monastery of Pantocrator, richly decorated with gold mosaics. This church, which was very rich in relics (amongst other things the jars from the wedding at Cana were kept there!), was used as a mausoleum, 'enterramiento de los Emperadores.'210 On his wanderings through the city Pero finally comes to a square with gates, arches and porticos, where formerly people used to come to watch the games on feast days. In the middle of this square he sees a copper pillar, consisting of the intertwined bodies of snakes; on the pillar are two heads, According to a legend, in former days wine used to flow out of one, and milk out of the other; but Pero says that we should not give too much credence to this story, as there was no longer anybody alive who had seen it for himself. In fact there is a grain of truth in the legend, for not so long ago it was shown that this pillar had been used as a fountain in medieval times. 211 As for the number of heads Pero was mistaken, for shortly before his journey three heads had been seen by Buondelmonti, and in the Turkish period the monument still possessed three heads. 212 The interpretation of the story about 'el Justo' is rather more problematic; this 'just man', was a sort of ombudsman who acted as an intermediary in cases of disagreement between buyers and sellers, until in the end his arm was struck off by a discontented buyer. This story is only to be found in Pero's book, so that it is far from clear which statue he had in view. 213 The tale must undoubtedly be one of the many told by the guides to visitors to the Hippodrome. 214 A statue with a broken arm is sufficient to give rise to such a tale; the Mirabilia Urbis Romae and the Patria (of Constantinople) are both full of similar inven-

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tions. Pero himself has not much faith in the legend, witness his remark that he believes much more what the Evangelists have to say. 215 Next to the Hippodrome, says Pero, there is a bath house, about which his guides told him a good story. Women accused of adultery who could leave this building 'in full state' were thus proved to be innocent. Diehl has shown that Pero Tafur's version is a highly simplified form of a tale in the Patria, in which a statue of Aphrodite forms the central element in this chastity test. 216 A similar story can be found in the work of the anonymous Russian. Pero did not think the story of the bath house, which some researchers have connected with the Thermae of Zeuxippus, to be entirely credible either, for he remarks that he 'would not consider it sinful if anybody did not believe it. ' 217 Another monument in the Hippodrome attracts his attention: the obelisk carved out of a single piece. Pero compares this with the obelisk of Julius Caesar, which he had seen in Rome, but considers the one in Constantinople less beautiful and not so high. 218 As with the statue on the Augusteion the name of Justinian is not mentioned, neither is that of Theodosius, who had had the obelisk put up; this relict of the past is also connected by him with Constantirre. Pero sees many buildings in and around the Hippodrome, but does not give any further description of them. His next subject is the position of the city, a triangle with two of its three sides washed by water. High, strong walls, built of marble blocks give protection against attacks from outside. In this context Pero recounts the legend of the heavenly horseman who protected the walls. 219 In his time this protection seems to have come to an end, he says, and the angel appears to have gone away, for since then the city has been captured by the Turks. 220 The description of the state of the imperial palace gives a clear picture of the extremely difficult circumstances in which people lived in Constantinople in the last years before the Turkish conquest. Pero's work is nothing if not explicit: 'la casa del Emperador muestra aver sydo magnifica, pero agora no esta ansi, que ella e la !ibdat bien pares9e el mal que an pasado e pasan de cada dia'. 21 Only the part of the palace inhabited by the emperor's family is reasonably well maintained; the rest is in a bad state of decay. In spite of this, court ceremonial is strictly kept up, although in Pero's eyes the emperor is little more than 'a bishop without a diocese' . 222 He makes the interesting observation

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that near the entrance to the palace he saw a library with many books, old manuscripts and historical documents. 223 Pero says the city is thinly populated, adding that most of the inhabitants live in the districts along the sea coast. The wharf and the docks situated there had known better times. In spite of all the regression, however, trade must still have been reasonably brisk, since in the harbour of Constantinople, and even more in those of the Genoese in Pera on the far side of the Golden Horn, he observes many ships. 224 Yet the inhabitants of the city are badly dressed and look poor and shabby, thus showing their sad situation; though in his opinion they actually deserve an even worse fate, in view of their depravity and sinfulness. 225 It is quite obvious from this that Pero Tafur is not very welldisposed towards the inhabitants of Constantinople. It is remarkable how this extremely unfavourable judgement of these people, who were at any rate Christians, contrasts with his favourable remarks about the Turks, who according to the official teaching of the Church at that time, deserved to be held in abomination. Nothing could illustrate more clearly the decayed state in which Pero found the city, and what he sees as the decadent way of life of the inhabitants. The passage in which Pero Tafur tells of the legendary journey of Charlemagne to Jerusalem and Constantinople deserves particular attention. 226 This journey, which people in the city tell him all sorts of things about, is for him a historical fact: after his pilgrimage to Jerusalem Charles is said to have come to Constantinople, where a violent quarrel broke out between him and the emperor of the East, who had shown himself disloyal to Charles, and had had many Franks put to death, thereby breaking his given word. The quarrel was finally solved by an agreement in which the Byzantine emperor promised to do penance, and also never again to pronounce the death sentence. This, according to Pero is the reason why there are so many people in the Byzantine world with their hands cut off or their eyes put out. I do not share Diehl's amazement at this western story being heard in the Greek capital. 227 Pero's contacts with the western section of the population in Constantinople appear to me to provide the explanation. Pero concludes what he has to say about the city with a reference to the advance of the Sultan, who passed close by the walls with his entire army. The inhabitants feared a new siege, but the Sultan continued in the direction of the Black Sea. 228

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After a short excursion to Brusa, on the Gulf of Nicomedia, Pero Tafur returns to Pera, formerly also known as Galata. By comparison with Constantinople this must have been a prosperous place. He estimates the number of inhabitants as about 2,000, and says that this Genoese settlement was well protected by ramparts and moats, and that many of the buildings there were comparable with the fine palazzi of the city of Genoa. The population of Pera consisted mainly of Greeks, but all government posts were in Genoese hands. According to our author the wealth of Pera is based on its trade with the Black Sea territories, with Syria and Egypt and, on the other side of the Mediterranean Sea, with the countries of Western Europe. 229 After a stay of two months in Constantinople and Pera, Pero Tafur boards a ship from Ancona, taking with him his slaves and whatever else he had bought in Kaffa. In the Dardenelles he presses the captain to take aboard some Christian slaves who are fleeing from the Turks, a manoeuvre which is not without problems, and which leaves him with an arrow wound in his foot. 230 As they travel from Mytilene to Thessalonica the Hagion Oros, Mount Athos, comes in sight. Pero tells a rather confused story about Mount Athos: he says there are three monasteries there, one at the foot of the mountain, one halfway up the slope and one on the top. As the monks attained a certain degree of perfection they were 'promoted' to a higher monastery. 231 The recent loss of the city of Salonica to the Turks (in 1430) is only mentioned in passing. It is remarkable that Pero Tafur says of Negroponte (Euboea) that in the past it was joined to the mainland by a bridge, whereas in 1396 Niccolo da Martoni still referred to two bridges. Apparently this link with the mainland was no longer in existence in Pero's time. 232 Apart from a few storms the return journey went off without problems: via Crete-Modon-Corfu-Ancona Pero returns to Venice; arriving on Ascension Day, May 22 1438. Each year on this great church festival various ceremonies and festivities took place. Among these was the exhibition of aZZ the treasures of San Marco. Pero takes this opportunity to admire these innumerable treasures, riches such as he had never seen before all in one place. He is sorry not to be able to write at length about La Pala (Pala d'Oro); even a reasonably detailed description of this work of art, he says, would take up too much room. 233 Once again Pero Tafur visits and describes the city of

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Venice. Many different subjects, such as the gondolas, the cathedral of San Marco with its campanile, and the four bronze horses, the two colossal granite pillars on the quayside, the arsenals, the government of the city, trade and finance - all these are dealt with in a fair amount of detail. After his stay in Venice Pero does not yet return to his home. He embarks on a new journey across northern Italy, in the course of which he again meets the emperor of Constantinople in Fer~ara, at the concilium being held in that place about the question of a union of the churches. 234 By way of Switzerland and Germany he comes to the Burgundian Netherlands, where he is most cordially received by Duke Philip the Good at the brilliant court in Brussels. 235 He continues through Germany to Prague and Breslau, where round about Christmas 1438 he has a meeting with Emperor Albrecht II of Hapsburg. In the middle of winter, seriously delayed by snow and ice, he travels on to Vienna, and after various wanderings in Hungary he at last finds himself back in Venice. There he finally takes a ship bound for Sicily. A heavy storm drives the ship off course, in the direction of Tunis, but from there he does eventually get to Cordova, via Sardinia, arr1v1ng in April or May of 1439. 236 There, after all his travels, he settles down for good, and in 1452 marries Dona Juana de Horozco. He appears to have taken an active part in local politics; in the city archives his signature even survives on a document. 237 He is thought to have died in about 1484. He must have committed the story of his travels to paper in the years following 1452, as appears, for example, from the reference to the capture of Constantinople by the Turks as an event which had occurred recently. 238 The work of Pero Tafur is for many reasons an important document, and one which is still seriously undervalued. The few authors who have taken an interest either in the work as a whole or in particular aspects of it have raised numerous important points. Vasiliev emphasizes the importance of Pero's description of Constantinople, Habler discusses in detail his journey through Germany and the Netherlands, Letts dwells on Pero's commercialism, Diehl devotes an article to the Mirabilia-tales which Pero noted down in the Byzantine capital. All these points are of undoubted importance. What has not yet been emphasized, however, is the more or less unique character of Pero Tafur's attitude with respect to ancient monuments. In his introduction Letts calls him a medieval, but what 'medieval' ever showed any such interest? Pero Tafur's account

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of his journey cannot be compared with those of Wilhelm von Boldensele and Ludolf von Sudheim, two pilgrims who undertook the difficult journey to Jerusalem just a century earlier. Neither does the work of Niccolo da Martoni yet display the interest in antiquities which is so clearly present in Pero Tafur. Pero wanders around while he is in Rome, and in Constantinople he specially requests to be shown round the Church of Hagia Sophia; in spite of all the risks involved he disguises himself in order to get a look at the Omar Mosque in Jerusalem, and when on Ascension Day 1438 the treasure chamber of San Marco is on display, he is to be found among the visitors. Much of what he heard and saw is reflected in his writing, which thus often contains information of great value, although, as is the case in all travel accounts, there are also some passages of little or no importance. Pero's motives for travelling were certainly not generally shared in his day; most accounts make it quite clear that the authors felt little or no pleasure in their journey, and that the frequent difficulties and dangers had a negative effect on their judgment. None of this appears in Pero; he is full of curiosity about everything which is old and strange to him, and his great enjoyment of it all is evident in his work. His positive view of travel, his interest in antiquities, his independent religious judgment and the critical tone he employs in writing - these are the most important elements which make the work of Pero Tafur a valuable document.

9. Swnmary As has already been said in the introduction, the pilgrims form the largest group of foreigners travelling through Greece. In the early middle ages travellers to Jerusalem were extremely few; from about 1100 their numbers gradually grew, and first hundreds and then thousands of them made their way to the Holy Land each year. Pilgrim traffic normally followed set routes. In the comparatively short period that the Balkan road was in use, Thessalonica and Constantinople were right on the pilgrim route from western Europe to Jerusalem. Visits were undoubtedly paid to these places, although there are hardly any traces of them in the literary sources. The far more frequently used sea-route only took the pilgrims round the periphery of Greek territory. The Venetian boat service, in particular, offered little possibility

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of deviating from this route. At a few harbours on the Peloponnesus, Crete and Rhodes, the ships anchored for a short time to take on provisions. Only a small percentage of the pilgrims were able or willing to allow themselves to deviate through Greek territory. As their interest was mainly religious they did not direct their steps to Athens, Thebes, Sparta, or Thessalonica. Only the city of Constantinople, with its wealth of relics, had the power to attract them. For eastern Christians Constantinople lay on the most frequently used route to the holy places, so that a halt in that city was usual. For Orthodox Christians Constantinople was often actually the goal of the pilgrimage. From this whole large group of pilgrims only a few travel accounts have survived. Moreover, these pilgrim's books are all very much alike, with their emphasis on the religious aspect, the churches with relics and the indulgences which could be earned. Data about the country, the inhabitants, material remains from the past and old traditions will be looked for in vain. In theory many pilgrims could have seen antique remains, but in practice the lack of freedom the routes allowed, but even more the intellectual limitations of the pilgrims, meant that it was only the occasional individual who had any eye for his surroundings. The descriptions dealt with in this chapter of pilgrimages by Benjamin of Tudela, Wilhelm von Boldensele, Ludolf von Sudheim, Niccolo da Martoni and Pero Tafur fall outside the main body of pilgrim writing, on account of their wider views and their more varied content. For this reason they deserve a special place in the cultural history of the middle ages.

II. THE CRUSADES AliD THE LATIN STATES IN GREECE

1. Crusaders: lth - 4th Orusades A second large group of West-Europeans who set foot on Greek soil and had some degree of contact with the inhabitants there is formed by the Crusaders. Their goal, like that of the pilgrims was not the Byzantine Empire, but Palestine. 1 In the eyes of the participants there was no difference between going on a pilgrimage to the holy places and going on a crusade; they often referred to themselves as 'pilgrims', and to their army as 'peregrinus exercitus' . 2 Yet although the religious aspect cannot be discounted, it must be said that the Crusades were to a large extent not religious but secular in character. 3 With regard to the Crusades two different periods can be distinguished. In the first period, from 1095 to 1291, the Holy Land was captured from the Moslems, and Latin states were established in Palestine and Greece. With the fall of Akko in 1291 the period of the Crusades proper comes to an end; in the second period, up to 1444, plans are regularly made for reconquering Palestine, but these are never put into effect. Moreover, with the advance of the Turks in the Balkans in the fourteenth to fifteenth centuries the idea of recapturing Palestine recedes further and further into the background as the West is confronted with the problem of protecting Europe against the Turks. 4 From both the first and the second periods texts have survived which are important for the present study. In the period before 1204 there are no detailed descriptions, yet some authors can be found whose chronicles do pay some attention to the Byzantine territory through which the Crusaders travelled. The few scraps of information these authors have to offer us are important because in the middle ages their work reached a fairly wide public; thus their narratives influenced, for better or worse, the picture of the Greek world passed on to later generations. 5 The two leading figures in the First Crusade, Pope Urbanus II and the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I, each had quite different motives for taking part in it. The Byzantine Emperor, who was engaged in a bitter struggle against the Moslems in Anatolia, hoped for the support of several hundred heavily armed western knights. The argument that the Holy Land must be set free was, for him, of secondary importance. For Urbanus liberating the holy places, and at the same time helping Christians in the East who were oppressed by the Moslems, was undoubtedly an important matter, but what he

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also had in mind was the church union with Byzantium, for which successful negotiations had been going on since 1088. The possibility of increasing papal prestige must also be regarded as an important incentive for Urbanus's call to arms in November 1095 at Clermont in France. 6 Although the idea was that there should be some form of co-operation between the Byzantine and the Latin troops, mutual suspicion and the fact that each side pursued its own interest prevented anything much coming of this. Those who took part in the first Crusade travelled to Constantinople from their various places in Western Europe, mainly by the overland route across the Balkans. Alexius was horrified to see several thousand heavily armed soldiers advancing across his territory towards the capital. His attempt to get the Crusaders across the Bosporus as quickly as possible was successful; in consultation with the emperor and the leaders of the Crusade it was decided first to combat the Moslems in Anatolia; after that it would be easier to thrust through to Jerusalem by way of Syria. The short stay of so many crusaders in and around Constantinople did not give rise to any lengthy descriptions of that city and its monuments. Mrs. Ebels-Hoving has analyzed the twelve most important writings about the first Crusade and its immediate results in a study which appeared a few years ago, entitled 'Byzantium through Western eyes, 10961204' . 7 Only four writers express any interest and admiration for the city of Constantinople; but this admiration is not based on the beauty of the many ancient and Byzantine buildings and works of art which the crusaders saw, but rather on the history of the city and the presence of many valuable relics. Guibert of Nogent 8 and Robert of Rheims 9 recall the foundation of the city by Emperor Constantine, and both of them speak of the relics which the city possesses in such great quantities. Robert even goes so far in his praise as to express the opinion that Constantinople was founded by divine providence for the very purpose of housing all these relics. 10 The great size of the city of Constantinople appealed very much to the western visitors. For the crusaders, who were accustomed to the small towns and villages of Western Europe, such size was almost beyond belief. Foucher of Chartres 11 emphasizes the extent of the city, with its many palaces and monasteries; he also mentions the great quantities of gold and silver which he saw in the city. He expresses admiration for the magnificent silken garments which many of the people wear. Because of its price silk was hardly

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found at all in the West. 12 Foucher does not, of course, forget to mention the numerous relics. Like Foucher, Bartolf of Nangis also included in his work a description of the Byzantine capital; in it his enthusiastic admiration for this wealthy city is clearly shown. 13 The work of Foucher of Chartres reflects what he saw and did as a participator in the Crusade. Bartolf of Nangis is an author about whom much is still not clear. He probably lived at the beginning of the twelfth century in Syria, after the Crusade. His version of Foucher's Historia contains many illuminating comments, but above all he adds to Foucher's work a number of topographical particulars. 1 ~ For this reason I am inclined to assume that his description of Constantinople is based on his own observations. Guibert of Nogent and Robert of Rheims did not themselves participate in the Crusade. Their chronicle was put together in their monastery cells in northern France after the expedition, from information obtained from people who had taken part in it. 15 Perhaps there is some echo in their work of the intangible oral tradition which grew up in western Europe when the Crusaders returned home and recounted their experiences in the Greek world and in Palestine. In this way some interest for these places was awakened in communities in Europe which until the eleventh century had been rather isolated, and where contacts with the outside world were more the exception than the rule. 16 The works of Guibert of Nogent and Robert of Rheims, but even more that of Foucher of Chartres, were widely read in the twelfth century and the importance of their writings for the present study lies in the favourable impression they gave of the city of Constantinople. Apart from these four authors there were hardly any who devoted any particular attention to Constantinople. In a number of works the city is not even mentioned by name, but simply referred to as the 'urbs regia'; the emperor is merely referred to as the 'rex' or 'imperator constantinopolitanus' . 17 The picture of the city of Constantinople painted by the four authors already mentioned may be a favourable one, but the general attitude found in most of the chronicles towards the inhabitants, and especially towards the Byzantine emperor, is one of mistrust, suspicion and in places even hatred. The Second Crusade (1147-9), led by the German Emperor Conrad Ill and the French King Louis VII again brought many west-Europeans together before the walls of Constantinople.

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The expedition ended in a tragedy; most of the participants came to a wretched end in Asia Minor, and never reached their goal. Only a few got as far as Antioch and the little Crusaders' state which had been founded in Palestine as a result of the first Crusade, The cause of this disaster is attributed by almost all historians to two separate factors: the treachery of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus and mistakes made by the Crusaders themselves were together responsible for the disastrous result, 18 Although this Crusade is mentioned in many writings, only one author has given any thought to the city of Constantinople: Odo of Deuil, the only writer of a separate work about the events of the second Crusade, He was a chaplain to Louis VII and accompanied him on the journey to Antioch. He entitled his work 'De Profectione Ludovici VII in Orientem'. As a source, however, Odo needs to be treated with caution. He is extremely conscious of the difference in belief between Latin and Greek Christians; it was a difference that was officially established in the schism of 1054, but which had already been present for a long time before that. For Odo the Greeks are not Christians, but heretics, and he considers this such a serious matter that he adopts a strongly antiGreek attitude, In his account of Constantinople he constantly tries to include unfavourable as well as favourable qualities. The city itself makes a favourable impression on him, but his opinion of the inhabitants is, like that of the chronicles of the first Crusade, an unfavourable one. Odo praises the beauty of Constantinople, especially the Blachernae palace, but describes the city as dirty and dark. 19 He contrasts the riches of the city with the craftiness and untrustworthiness of its people, 20 But he says, 'if the city had not had these faults, it would be preferred above all others as a place to extend the faith, because of the favourable climate, the wholesome fertility of the soil and the easy crossing. ' 21 The mistrust with which the Byzantine emperor was often already spoken of by people writing about the first Crusade was not made any less by the events of 1147-9, Yet by no means all the sources, as yet, indicate an anti-Byzantine attitude. 22 The participants in the second Crusade cannot be accused of any definite anti-Greek bias, and probably surveyed the city of Constantinople, like Odo, with some admiration; this makes the question of why they paid so little attention to what they were confronted with in Byzantine territory even more difficult to answer.

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We have established that participation in the second Crusade did not, except in the case of a few passages by Octo of Deuil, lead to information about or descriptions of Constantinople and Greece; but this is not the whole picture. A literary work that was extremely popular and very widely known in western Europe in the middle ages may perhaps be shown to have a direct connection with the presence of western Crusaders in front of the walls of the Byzantine capital in the years 1147-9. Various historians believe that the twelfth century and later versions of the Pelerinage de Charlemagne contain a satire on the events of the second Crusade. 23 The essence of this story was the pilgrimage of Charles to Jerusalem, which soon came to be sung of in the chansons de gestes. The pilgrim hospice set up by Charles in Jerusalem and his diplomatic contacts with the Caliphs form the basis for the story of this legendary journey. From the second half of the tenth century 24 onwards not only Jerusalem is mentioned in the story, but also Constantinople 25 with its wealth of relics. The best known version came into being in the middle of the twelfth century as a satire on the second Crusade. 26 This version of the legend, which after the canonization of Charles (1165) 27 ,was even included in his Vita, illustrates the rivalry which existed between the Crusaders and the Byzantines, and especially between Louis VII and Manuel. The Pelerinage tells how Charles the Crusader set out for Constantinople by the overland route. The picture given of the Byzantine people in the legend is not too unfavourable, although the Greeks are said to be crafty and untrustworthy. Emphasis is placed on the wealth of the city of Constantinople, where relics and gold are to be found in large quantities; it was said, for example, that people there had a golden plough, which was regarded as a sign of jmmense riches. It is interesting, too, that the western Knights already have the idea of conquering this wealthy city - an idea which was several decennia later to become reality. Contrary to historical fact, in the legend Emperor Hugo is inferior to Charles; somewhat ironically, he is made to swear allegiance to Charles as his vassal. The story of Charles's journey to Constantinople survived for centuries, both in western Europe and in Constantinople. In the fifteenth century Pero Tafur gives his own version of the legend as he must have heard it in Constantinople. It seems plausible that this legend, west-European in origin, became known in Constantinople in the period of the Latin Empire (1204-61), and that the many western-Europeans in that

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city helped to keep it alive. The passages from Odo of Deuil and the information about the Byzantine capital offered by the Pelerinage de Charlemagne are of little interest with regard to the study of the monuments. Their importance is that in a time when contacts between western-Europe and Byzantium had been restored after hundreds of years, their wide circulation covering a large cross-section of the population awakened interest in the rich and great city on the Bosporus. I do not think it rash to assume that, reinforcing the oral tradition, they stimulated others to set off for the East, either as crusaders or as pilgrims. To a large extent the third Crusade passed Constantinople by (1189-1192). The English king, Richard Lion-heart and the French monarch, Philippe Auguste, chose the sea route, and from Sicily headed directly to Cyprus. Only the third participant, the German emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, set out over land with his army, and after a long and difficult journey across the Balkans 28 finally reached the Byzantine capital. Relations between Emperor Isaac II Angelus and Barbarossa were bad. The fact that Isaac had had several German ambassadors cast into the dungeons had led to a great deal of bad feeling. The chroniclers' accounts of the third Crusade all point in the same direction, namely, that if Barbarossa had not resisted the pressure exerted upon him by the army, 29 Constantinople would not have been stormed by a crusading force only in 1204, but as early as 1189. Although the German emperor must have spent some months with his troops in the vicinity of the Byzantine capital, it is not likely that many of them actually set foot in the city. Mistrust of the Greeks, particularly as a result of the arrest of the ambassadors, prevented contact with them. The crusaders were proabably excluded from the city as far as possible, just as during the first Crusade. Both Foucher of Chartres and Robert of Rheims say how much the military might of the crusaders was feared at that time, and how reluctantly permission was given for small groups to enter the city to visit the famous churches. 30 We can well imagine that after the misbehaviour of the German troops in the Balkans, security measures were more rigourously applied. This probably explains the fact that none of the German participants in the third Crusade produced a description of the city of Constantinople. The fourth Crusade was a catastrophe for Constantinople; on this last expedition, which affected the city, Constanti-

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nople was twice beleaguered and captured, with great arson and vandalism. The second time the city was taken there was intensive plundering which continued for several days (April 14-16, 1204). The reigning Count of Flanders, Baldwin, was declared emperor, and crowned on May 16 in the Hagia Sophia; Constantinople was to be governed by western rulers until 1261. The fourth Crusade, the events which led up to the final drama, the sources from which our knowledge is drawn and the way in which these sources should be interpreted all these things are covered by an extensive literature. 31 I only wish, here, to mention a few points which are of importance for this study. It is unlikely that the conquest of the Byzantine Empire had been planned from the beginning. Even after the conquest of Zara on the Dalmatian coast by the Venetians the majority of the Crusaders still fully intended to go straight on to Palestine. A small part of the army did, in fact, do so. Since they were travelling by ship the deviation of the enormous fleet of more than two hundred ships in the direction of Constantinople was completely unnecessary; 32 they could have set sail direct for Rhodes, and from there headed for the Syro-Palestinian coast. Among the leaders of the Crusade, however, a new plan was raised: it was decided to go first to Constantinople in order to help the pretender to the throne, Alexius, to carry out his plan and then, with the financial support promised by Alexius, to continue to the Holy Land. Because of mistakes on both sides the undertaking escalated, with disastrous results for the city of Constantinople. Although in the past the fourth Crusade has sometimes been presented as having been undertaken out of violent hatred of the Greeks, 33 this was not, in fact, the case. Norden has rightly pointed out that the leaders of the fourth Crusade actually intended to co-operate with the Byzantines. 34 This argument also makes unlikely Riant's thesis, that it was the wealth of valuables, but especially of relics (by now known to west-Europe) that caused the deviation of the crusading army. 35 The burning and plundering of Constantinople by the Crusaders undoubtedly caused an enormous amount of damage in the city, but the statement that 'the Franks of 1203-4 only looked at the Greek treasures with greedy robbers' eyes' 36 seems to me rather a sweeping one. The work of the Byzantine author Nicetas Choniates, who was an eye-witness of these events, doubtless contributed to this view of the crusaders. His opinion of the western conquerors, which is understandably not an impartial one, is expressed as follows: 'Rude

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and uncultivated barbarians, unacquainted with the Muses and the Graces, who did not even know Homer, Euripides, Sophocles and Pindar, nor Thucydides, Herodotus and Xenophon, nor yet Socrates, Aristotle and Plato. • 37 Nicetas' comment on the crusaders' ignorance of classical authors is undoubtedly true, and most of them did indeed behave like rude and uncultivated barbarians. On the other hand it must be remembered that the Crusaders behaved as was then customary - and not only then~ - on military expeditions. The land and possessions of the opponent were plundered and burnt without mercy. The loot from such raids was seen as a way of supplementing normal pay, which certainly was not lavish. It must also be remembered that the things the crusaders were accused of had also been done over a century earlier, under Alexius I, by mutinous Byzantine soldiers. 38 After the first days of plundering and destruction (April 14-16 1204) the leaders attempted to re-assert their authority over their troops. Bonifatius of Montferrat and Henry of Flanders managed to restore order of a sort, and to stop further vandalism. As a result of their intervention two of the richest palaces, the Blachernae and the Bucoleon, narrowly escaped being plundered. These were precisely the two palaces which by the treaty of division with the Venetians had fallen to the Latin emperor. 39 The behaviour of the leaders is certainly not likely to have been dictated primarily by the cultural value of these Byzantine palaces; but apart from all their self-interest, a certain admiration for these extensive buildings with their valuable contents must still have had some influence on their actions. The fact that the notion of 'richness' came first and their artistic value only far behind is of little importance. Not all the antique monuments were equally affected in 1204. The large buildings were left relatively undisturbed and survived the storm fairly well. This is true not only of the two palaces and the large churches but also of the immense columns and the Hippodrome. The valuables containing gold, silver, gems and cameos suffered most. qQ Enormous quantities of relics and reliquaries were stolen, as well as innumerable luxury articles. Many of these were destroyed and melted down, while some reached northern Italy, northern France and Flanders.q 1 Marble statues also suffered, and many of them must have been lost in 1204. The same is true of bronze statues; the huge statue of the emperor in Barletta and the four bronze horses which until recently adorned the front of San Marco in Venice escaped the melting pot, but innumerable

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other bronze figures - the statues in the spina of the Hippodrome, which included sphinxes, a statue of Hercules and one of Romulus and Remus with the she-wolf - were indeed melted down. 42 Foremost among the chroniclers of the fourth Crusade are Geoffroy de Villehardouin and Robert de Clari. In their work they not only depict factual events but also devote some attention to the city of Constantinople and what struck them as being of interest in it. From their chronicles it appears that among the Crusaders there were also some higher feelings. In their view the attitude of the Crusaders towards the Byzantine capital and its art treasures, can perhaps best be described as a mixture of admiration and incomprehension. Admiration is found especially in the passage where Villehardouin describes the reactions of the crusading army when they saw the city of Constantinople rising up out of the sea in front of them: 'You must know that many people saw Constantinople who had not seen it before; who could not imagine that there could be such a rich city in the whole world; they gazed at those high walls and those rich towers surrounding the entire city, and those rich palaces and those soaring churches, of which there were so many that nobody would believe it unless he beheld them with his own eyes; and the length and breadth of the city, which was sovereign over every other.' 43 Admiration is also found in Robert de Clari's description of the palaces of Bucoleon and Blachernae, 44 and the same feeling can also be found in the passage where he tells how after the conquest the crusaders (whom he calls 'pilgrims') wandered about in the city: 'Then the pilgrims beheld the size of the city, and the palaces and the rich abbeys and rich monasteries, and the great wonders which were in the city, and they stood before them full of admiration.' 45 To lay the emphasis on the frequent occurrence of the word 'rich' in Clari's work, and to conclude from this as Hendrickx does 46 that his attitude is purely one of greed, is not, in my opinion, the right approach. I have already attempted to show that in Western Europe in the twelfth century the notion of riches was directly associated with the city on the Bosporus. In almost all the older descriptions of Constantinople the emphasis was laid on the great wealth of the city and the presence of innumerable valuables of gold, silver, silk and precious stones. I believe, therefore, that the repetition of the idea of richness in de Clari's narrative in fact brings

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out how dumbfounded the western crusaders felt on suddenly being confronted with a level of civilization which was quite unknown to them. They had already known that the city was a rich one, but that its riches should be so great surpassed their expectations. Moreover, the frequent repetition of a limited vocabulary completely tallies with the low level of education of Robert de Clari. This man found it difficult in this new and unexpected situation, to express his thoughts adequately. A further point is that the few literary works he knew were of no help to him, since their style and vocabulary were just as clumsy as his own.~ 7 The chronicle writer Villehardouin, who was himself descended from the high French aristocracy, and who was involved, as a marshal of Champagne, in the leadership of the Crusade, ~ 8 says very little about the city of Constantinople, His account is mainly concerned with the actual events in which he himself was involved. In his work, however, we can also read how the Franks went to look at the city and there came into contact with the Greeks (Ch. XL), He does not dwell upon the wealth of the palaces taken over by the leaders, All he says about the Palace of Bucoleon which was occupied by Bonifatius of Montferrat is: 'Nothing should be said of the treasure in that palace, for there was so much that there was no end or limit to it' (Ch, LV), Nor does he describe the palace chosen by Henry of Flanders, the Blachernae, but he does say that the treasures contained in it were at least as numerous as those in the Bucoleon (Ch. LV). In connection with the execution of Alexius V Murzuphlus Villehardouin mentions the pillar of prophecy, (about which I shall have more to say when discussing the work of Robert de Clari): 'In Constantinople there was a pillar, roughly in the middle of the city, and this marble pillar was one of the highest and the most beautifully carved that I have ever seen', He must have looked at this pillar very carefully, for he is able to report that many different scenes are carved in the marble. Unfortunately he only considered one scene worth mentioning separately, that of the plunging figure which was said to be 'prophetic'. (Ch. LXVIII), Whereas the chronicle of Villehardouin provides little information that can give us a picture of the city of Constantinople around 1200, much more can be found in the work of Robert de Clari. This knight from Picardy is the first crusader to leave behind a detailed description of what he saw in Constantinople, His work, which dates from the beginning of the thirteenth century, is well worth a chapter to itself,

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The results of the fourth Crusade will be dealt with in a later chapter, but at this point it may be useful to summarize the importance for this study of the first to fourth Crusades. It was the Crusades that brought about intensive contacts between western-Europe and the Byzantine empire, which had previously been entirely inaccessible. From the middle of the twelfth century onwards we see an increasing interest in that part of the world, which is concentrated in particular on the city of Constantinople. At first attention is directed more to general characteristics, such as the favourable situation of the city, its wealth and the presence of many remarkable relics; after the fourth Crusade, and indeed as a result of it, the mirabilia stories connected with certain monuments became increasingly important. Constantly we find a certain dualism: the city of Constantinople is admired, but its emperor and the faithless, crafty inhabitants are despised. Nowhere do we find any suggestion of historical awareness, or of any real interest in the antique monuments for the sake of their artistic value or their origins in another, older culture. In the period up to 1204, moreover, contact was mainly limited to Constantinople itself; this was the most important place in the Greek East, and also the city where numerous remains of earlier periods of culture were still to be found. Nothing can be learned from the surviving sources of what was happening anywhere else than in Constantinople.

2. Robert de CZari Robert de Clari was a simple French knight from the Picardy region. Unlike Geoffroy de Villehardouin he was not involved in the leadership of the fourth Crusade, and he does not seem to have known much about the background of many of the things that happened. 49 His eye-witness account may be taken as representing the view of the ordinary west-European crusader on Constantinople and its Greek inhabitants. He shows no understanding of the ancient culture of this city which had remained more or less unimpaired for centuries. Incomprehension, together with admiration for what is new and strange, is the main element found in Clari's work. 50 First of all he tells how the harbour on the Golden Horn was shut off by a large iron chain between the city and the tower of Galata. The crusaders first had to attack and capture this heavily fortified tower, which was defended by Varangians',

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Genoese and Pisans; only then could the chain be broken, 51 Clari then devotes a number of chapters to a description of the city, in which he discusses various subjects. First he speaks of the magnificent palaces; because most of the owners of these rich palaces had fled, the leaders of the expedition took these buildings over for themselves. Clari explains the great riches in the city by pointing out that never since its foundation had Constantinople been conquered: 'ne au temps Alexandre, ne au temps Charlemagne, ne devant ne apres' (c. 81). About the Bucoleon palace he says that it contained five hundred rooms, all of them decorated with gold mosaics. Of the thirty chapels, large and small, in the building, he mentions one in particular for the richness of its decoration, This Sainte Chapelle, the Church of St. Mary of the Lighthouse, begun under Constantine V and completed by Michael III (84267), had a floor made entirely of slabs of white marble. All around him he saw the shine and glitter of jasper and porphyry, silver and cut stones. This chapel also contained several extremely important relics, including two large pieces of the Holy Cross (c. 82). The rdches of the Blachernae palace, with its two hundred rooms are too great, says Clari, for him to be able to describe them. Thus he only says that the crowns of former Byzantine emperors are housed there, together with many jewels, precious stones and silken materials. (c,83). His admiration for the city, mentioned above, (c,84) leads him to describe the building which, because of its size, attracted most attention: the Hagia Sophia (c. 85). The fact that he says the French for Hagia Sophia is Sainte Trinite shows that Clari had no knowledge of Greek. He speaks of the great pillars in the building, and attributes to them the power of healing all sorts of diseases. He expresses admiration for the magnificent altar with its baldachin supported by silver pillars, 52 Both the list of costly materials and the healing power seem to be borrowed from the letter of Prester John, well-known in the middle ages, in which exactly the same elements play an important part, It is therefore not certain in how far Clari is describing what he actually saw. 53 Chandeliers hanging by silver chains provided light for the immense building. Outside the Hagia Sophia Clari saw the great statue of Justinian I on horseback, which is mentioned again and again in many descriptions of Constantinople. Clari describes this pillar with its statue in detail. On top of the pillar he saw a bronze figure of an Emperor mounted on a horse. His hand is extended towards the East ('vers paienisme'), which Clari interprets, on the basis

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of what he has been told, as a threatening gesture in the direction of the Saracens. In the other hand the horseman held the globus crucifer, 54 a golden apple surmounted by a cross. Clari attempts to identify the horseman, but again reveals his incomprehension. He believes that the figure is that of Emperor Heracles. Because of his victory over the Persian King Chosroes II and his recovery of the Holy Cross, Heraclius was one of the few Byzantine emperors who lived on in popular memory. In France his name had become widely known through the Eracle of Gautier d'Arras, a literary work which had appeared in the twelfth century; 55 Clari's interpretation can probably be traced back to this work. Clari says ten herons have built their nests on the horse's head and on the end of its back, and came back to nest in them each year - a picturesque piece of information, but one of no great use to us. Clari tells of the wealth of the church of the Holy Apostles, and adds that according to the Greeks Constantine, Helena and many other emperors were buried there. (c. 87). The walls of the city, with their great gates, had at first made a great impression on the crusaders. Yet Clari has little to say about them, only thinking two of the gates worth mentioning. First he speaks of the gate of the 'Golden Mantle', the Gyrolimne gate near the Blachernae building. Above this gateway he saw a golden apple, which he was told was able to turn lightning away from the city. The gateway took its name from the statue of an emperor with a flapping golden mantle (c. 88), placed above it. The second gateway he describes is the Golden Gate, on which were two brass elephants. Clari describes how this gate was used only for the triumphal procession of the emperor after winning a victory in time of war. (c. 89). The Hippodrome is described by Robert de Clari in some detail under the name of 'les jeux l'Empereur' (c. 90). He estimates its length as one and a half bow shots, and the width at almost one (in fact it was about 400 by 120 metres). Spectators could take their places on the steps around the central area, while the imperial family and other highlyplaced dignitaries could watch from a box. A reminder of the competitiveness of the factiones is found in Robert's remark that when the games were held two teams took part at once. What is most interesting is Clari's description of the Spina: 'Over the whole length of this place there was a wall, fifteen feet high and ten feet wide. On this wall stood statues of men and women, of horses, oxen and camels, of bears, lions

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and all sorts of other animals. They were cast in brass, so well made and so natural in form that no other master, either in the pagan world or in Christendom, could have fashioned such fine statues and formerly it occurred regularly that the statues moved by magic, but now they no longer did so.' It was, in fact, customary in antiquity to decorate the spina of a circus with statues. 56 Over a number of centuries the Roman and Byzantine emperors had managed to assemble in the Hippodrome in Constantinople a collection of masterpieces from many Greek cities. The importance and the artistic merit of these works does not emerge at all from Clari's description, Only the fairytale element attracts him: to him they were puppets which could be brought to life by magic (c.90). The medieval love of automata is clearly evident here. 57 In front of the Exchange Clari sees two female figures made of brass which were very beautiful and life-like. One was probably the bronze statue of Athena, which is also mentioned by Nicetas Choniates; 58 who the other figure was is not certain. The reason that he mentions them is not that they were old, or beautiful, but has again to do with the fairytale element: the inscription on one of the statues is supposed to have predicted the conquest of the city by men from the West (c. 91). Robert closes his account of the city with a description of the two 'prophetic' pillars (of Theodosius and Arcadius). It is interesting to hear that the top of each pillar was occupied by a hermit, In the passage about the pillars Robert de Clari, like Villehardouin, omits to give an exact description of what he actually saw, Here again only one detail interests him, and that is the prophetic character attributed to these pillars. Some of the scenes depicted on the pillars were responsible for this interpretation. Where the idea that the pillars were 'prophetic' originated can no longer be found out. It is possible that original Greek traditions are at the bottom of the notion, 59 though it is not impossible that it was a purely western discovery. The latter solution seems to me preferable, since in the historiography of the fourth Crusade the prophetic character of the pillars in Constantinople occupied an important place: after the misdeeds of 1204 there was a certain amount of shame about what had happened and in the search for excuses divine providence is introduced as an important element in the crusaders' favour. 60 The miraculous story about the bronze statue of a woman pointing to tho west, with the inscription that the conquerors of Constantinople would come from that direction, and a similar sort of fairy-tale about the pillar,

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from which the usurper Murzuphlus was thrown by the crusaders as a punishment, both play an important part in these attempts at self-justification. The whole history of Byzantium was supposed to be on the pillar, including its conquest by longhaired men from the west dressed in armour. In this connection Villehardouin adds that on the pillar there was even the figure of a man falling head first. 61 The identification of this figure with the executed Murzuphlus increased the credibility of the story. What we are to make of Clari's statement that all these predictions could only be read after they had come true is a question that only a man of the middle ages, with his belief in signs and wonders, could answer. For many historiographers the idea that the Byzantines should have known what to expect because it was on the pillars, is sufficient justification for the whole undertaking. In the Greeks' failure to take timely action the crusaders clearly saw the hand of God. 62 Clari does not wish to say any more about 'the great and small, poor and rich, the size of the city, the palaces and other wonderful things', for he says that if anyone described even a hundred.th of 'the riches, the beauty and nobility of the abbeys, monasteries and palaces' he would not be believed, and would be regarded as a liar (c. 92). There is one more passage in the work of Robert de Clari which deserves special attention, where he tells how some months after the conquest of Constantinople in October 1204 a meeting took place between a French knight, Pierre de Bracheul, and the King of Bulgaria, 'Jehans LiBlaks' (John of Walachia). To the question why the crusaders had come from such a distance to take the city of Constantinople, and whether there was no more territory to conquer in their own country, Pierre de Bracheul answered as follows: 'Have you never heard how great Troy was destroyed?' On receiving an affirmative reply from the Bulgarian King, who remarked that that event had taken place long ago, Pierre gave this explanation of the motives: 'Troy belonged to our forefathers; those who got away settled down in the place we come from; and it is because it belonged to our forefathers that we came to conquer this country. ' 63 In this passage the influence of the medieval sagas of origin is clearly expressed. The French crusaders claim relationship with the ancient Trojans and therefore the Greeks are automatically their enemies. Thus the saga of origin could also be used as a justification for a war which in fact even the French could not regard as praiseworthy.64

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In judging the work of Robert the Clari many negative factors have to be taken into consideration. The order of writing is chaotic and all too often exaggeration intrudes. Clari sometimes mentions for their special healing power, or their power to ward off evil, buildings and objects which he would otherwise certainly have passed by. There is a striking similarity in style and spirit to the mirabilia stories, both those of Rome and those of Constantinople. 65 As a description of the city of Constantinople and its antique monuments Robert de Clari's account is rather disappointing. It offers comparatively little in the way of concrete facts, and the information which it does contain is given without any realization at all of its hist9rical or art-historical value. It was clear to the author that the things in question were 'old', but questions as to 'how old' or 'whose' do not occur to him. He shows no awareness at all of any earlier phases of culture completely different from his own. The names of Constantine and Helena, Heraclius, Alexander the Great and Emperor Charlemagne were well known to many people in the middle ages, but offered no further points of contact. They were merely used to refer to things which had happened 'at some time in the past', without belonging to any clear point in history. But in spite of this the work of Robert de Clari is important, first of all because it is the only detailed eye-witness account of the events of 1204, and secondly because it gives a clear picture of how the ordinary, not too educated westEuropean of about 1200 responded to direct contact with the remains of classical civilization which were then still so abundantly available in Constantinople.

3, The Latin states in Greece With the capture of the capital of the Byzantine empire in 1204 the greater part of Greece fell into western hands. 66 Only in a few small areas were Greek rulers able to hold their own: Theodorus I Lascaris established the state of Nicea in western Asia Minor; Trebizond, 67 on the Black Sea, was another such refuge, and in Europe the mountains of Epirus were sufficiently inhospitable for the Ducae to be able to hold their own there. The rest of the territory was divided between the knights of the Cross and the Venetians. Venice provided itself with a number of places of commercial importance: large parts of the city of Constantinople, the island of Euboea, the fortresses of Monemvasia, Koron and Modon, and

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also, by a transaction with Bonifatius of Montferrat, the island of Crete. 68 Constantinople became the capital of the Latin Empire under Baldwin of Flanders, who was soon succeeded by his brother Henry in 1206. Thessalonica became the centre of a Latin Kingdom under Bonifatius of Montferrat. Athens came to belong to the county of Athens and Neopatras, ruled by Burgundian lords of the De la Roche family, while on the Peloponnesus the principality of Achaea came into being. All sorts of small feudal lords also established themselves on the Greek mainland and on the islands, and although in theory they were subordinate to the more powerful rulers, in practice they acted more or less autonomously. 69 In some places Latin rule soon came to an end. Thessalonica was reconquered by the ruler of Epirus, Theodorus Ducas, as early as ~224. In 1261 Michael VIII Palaeologus regained the mastery of Constantinople with a surprise attack launched from Nicea; 70 since the death of Henry in 1216 the power of the Latin Emperors in Constantinople had steadily decreased. Moreover, in 1262 began the reconquest of the Peloponnesus; especially in the fourteenth century Byzantine territory there was greatly extended. 71 In other places the Latin rulers remained in power for several centuries. The principality of Achaea continued to exist until 1432, although its territory slowly dwindled, and the county of Athens only came to a definite end in 1456. The islands of the Archipelago, with Naxos as their centre, remained under western rulers until well into the Turkish time (until 1566) 72 and in Crete Venetian rule only ended in 1669, when the capital, Candia, fell to the Turks after a siege lasting twenty-one years. 73 How did the Greek population react to western domination? In answering this question a distinction must be made between the situation in large cities such as Constantinople and Thessalonica on the one hand and the state of affairs in the country and on the islands on the other hand. In Constantinople westerners, and the Venetians in particular, were already very much hated by the Greek population in the 12th century. Bitter quarrels were always springing up between the Venetians and the Greeks, and led to anti-Venetian feeling which eventually developed into a general anti-Western attitude. 7 ~ The uprising of 1182, in Constantinople, when thousands of Latins were massacred, was a moment when the long pent-up rage exploded. 75 The population on the Morea and on the islands of the Archipelago were less unfavourably inclined towards the new rulers. The reign of terror to which the Byzantine governor Leon Sgouros had submitted the whole area

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in the years round about 1200, from his seat in Nauplion, made many people in central and southern Greece regard the French and Lombardian nobles as a sort of liberators. 76 It should also be said that in general the government introduced by the Latins was not unreasonable. Apart from the unedifying scenes which occurred in Constantinople in 1204 large-scale theft and blood-baths did not take place. Because many Byzantine landowners and noblemen outside Constantinople were not driven out nor robbed of their possessions, the pattern of life outside the capital remained largely unchanged. In the time immediately following the conquest part of the population even gave their full support to the new rulers. 77 Emperor Henry of Flanders who soon succeeded Baldwin, in 1206, even managed, as a result of his just treatment of both his Greek and his Latin subjects, to arouse the definite sympathies of the local habitants, 78 not only in the capital but also in his territories outside the city. His successors, however, did not share his views, so that all the goodwill he had built up soon disappeared. Thus Henry's attempts to integrate the Greeks and Latins ended in failure at an early stage: in Constantinople there was still, until 1261, a steadily dwindling, completely isolated Latin substratum. In the Morea integration was partly successful, largely because the feudal system made contact unavoidable. There Villehardouin succeeded in building up a state made up of Greeks and Latins that continued under the rule of his family until 1278; after that it passed to Charles of Anjou, the King of Naples, and the Angevin rule only came to an end in 1432, Under the Villehardouins and the Angevins the principality of Achaia was one of the most prosperous areas in the whole of Greece. The long duration of the occupation inevitably led to a certain amount of assimilation; but many Greeks still continued to hope for a re-conquest by the Greek despots of Morea. It is still a remarkable fact that the generation of the conquerors of 1204 could not settle down properly in the Greek world, Homesickness played an important part in the years from 1210 to 1230, especially among the French knights. Their presence in south-eastern Europe in fact resulted in members of their families in the West travelling out to the newly-formed settlements. In this way members of the De la Roche family left Burgundy for Athens; but the founder of that county, Othon de la Roche, himself returned in 1225 to his home in Franche-Comte. 79 Miller has drawn attention to the way in which the

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Frankish conquerors quickly died out; many families disappeared within as little as two generations. He gives as a reason for this the permanent wars, against the Greeks, but also against each other. The great isolation of the French group also had something to do with it. There was also the problem that the children of some of the relationships formed by Franks with Greek women, known as Gasmuli, felt more Greek than Frankish, and abandoned the western way of life. 80 The Italians felt more at home in Greek territory than the French. In the course of the fourteenth century a movement can thus be seen from French to Italian; by the end of the fourteenth century Italian has even become the official language of the Latin territories. Although little research has been done into the way of life of the western rulers in Greece, and into their relations with their Greek subjects, the fact that in the thirteenth century they could not settle down there, and that they remained an isolated group, may lead one to conclude that contacts were mostly rather superficial. Certainly incidental cases of mixed marriages can be found and cases of Greeks in high positions of government, 81 but in Greece there is no question of a rapid and extensive assimilation. 82 From this point of view the Frankish area of Greece forms a strong contrast with the small Latin states of Jerusalem, Tripoli, Antioch and Edessa, where a strong and rapid assimilation with the local population did indeed take place. 83 Weitzmann has recently convincingly shown how as a result of frequent contacts the art of the Latin states in Palestine in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries exerted a strong influence on west-European art. 8 ~ Although there is not a lot of documentary proof, it may nevertheless be assumed that from 1204 onward there was a constant interchange of traffic between western Europe and the Latin territories in Greece. I see no reason why the situation in th.e Morea should have been fundamentally different from that in Palestine. In the field of art these contacts certainly led to mutual influences, with the strongest influence being that of Byzantine art on the West. Studies by Kitzinger and Weitzmann clearly show this Byzantine ascendancy. 85 To the question whether the Latin knights and their subjects who settled in Greek territory showed any sort of interest in the ancient monuments they found there, the answer must, for the time being, be negative. Written sources from the period of the Latin occupation of Greece are scarce,

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and in these few sources not a word is said about the surroundings in which they lived, 86 We know about the main outlines of the political and religious events of the time from surviving documents, and there is also some information 87 about economic activity. Yet not a single westerner left behind a description of the country in which he found himself and the people with whom he lived. The Latin settlements in Greelt territory are thus only of indirect importance to this study. The presence of Franks in Greece became most noticeable when a constant stream of Byzantine works of art began to flow in the direction of western Europe. In the years immediately following 1204 this consisted mainly of loot in the form of relics and reliquaries; 88 after 1215, when the Fourth Lateran Council issued a proclamation forbidding the trade in relics, the flow diminished, but it never came to a complete 89 standstill. Jewels and luxury articles also found their way to the West. These objects were chosen not so much for their age or their artistic value as for their religious or exclusive quality. Many prime items which can still be admired in the treasure chambers of Northern Italy and France came to the West in the years following 1204, 9 u The ancient monuments attracted just as little attention from the new rulers for their age and artistic qualities. There was no question of preservation; both the antique buildings and the Byzantine ones insofar as they were usable, were adopted to the needs of the Latin rulers. Thus the Hagia Sophia became the Latin cathedral of Constantinople, the Burgundian lords built their palace in the Propylaea in Athens, and an old watch tower on the coast of Elis was again prepared for defensive use by the new rulers of the 91 Morea. The very fact that some ancient buildings now fulfilled a new function resulted in the Latins unconsciously helping to preserve them, Modern research on the architecture of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, for example, has revealed that in the time of the Latin empire restorations which. had become necessary as the result of earthquakes, were expertly carried out. Some aspects of the architecture, especially the use of flyin~ buttresses, recall contemporary forms in the Ile-de-France. 2 Architects and workmen from the mother country were probably brought in to carry out these restorations. Thus it must be conceded that besides all the damage the crusaders caused they did also contribute to the preservation of important antique monuments. As far as the capital is concerned, the period of the Latin empire (1204-

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61) was, in spite of some positive elements, mainly negative in character. Because some of the inhabitants had fled the city became underpopulated, and this led to the decay of large areas of the city on the Bosporus, once so renowned for its beauty. The picture of the beautifuZ city which is usually found in the work of authors up to 1204 is now lost, and when the Greek author Nicephorus Gregoras (early fourteenth century) speaks of the Byzantine capital of post-1261, he paints a picture of a decayed city. 93 Western visitors of the fourteenth and fifteenth century also tell of the many open spaces in the city, where buildings were destroyed in the fires of 1204, and never rebuilt. About the situation outside Constantinople few details are known. Apart from the construction of various forts no large-scale building was undertaken by the Latin rulers. The most important consequence of the fourth crusade and the founding of the Latin states was that from then on there were always to be large numbers of western inhabitants in the area. This made travel much easier for their former compatriots, since if they found themselves in difficulties, or in need of any help or advice, there were many places where they could fall back on the related population group. That this did indeed happen can be seen from the travel accounts: Niccolo da Martoni goes to stay with the Latin archbishop in Athens, and in Patras he again takes up residence in the episcopal palace. While he was in Constantinople-Pera Pero Tafur stayed with a Castilian sea captain. The presence of western inhabitants in Greek territory can be viewed favourably or unfavourably. In the typically colonial atmosphere in which the Latins lived in the East they did not even observe or note down things of interest offered by their surroundings. There were no written sources, from which visitors and others who were interested could cull possible material. Moreover, visitors were provided with the possibility of keeping to their own western way of life; there was no need to make contact with the native Greek population, and many felt not the slightest need to do so. On the other hand, it should be said that visitors' questions were answered, sometimes rightly, sometimes wrongly, by their compatriots; the Latin inhabitants acted as guides and explained what they knew. By settling in Greece they had gradually become acquainted with local traditions. It is their transmission of these traditions which is important for this study.

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4. Crusade pZans in the fourteenth and fifteenth century The fourth Crusade was the last in which the inhabitants of Constantinople saw western crusaders appearing before their walls. Later expeditions did not have the specific purpose of protecting the HoZy Land against the constant advance of the Moslems, but were aimed more at combatting Islam in general. The goal of the expedition of 1218, in which Count William I of Holland distinguished himself, and that of 1248 under the leadership of Louis IX of France was Damiette in Egypt; the expeditions steered round the edges of Greek territory to get to their destination, strategically situated in the Nile delta. During the expedition of 1228-29 only Frederick II's fleet put in on the way at Greek harbours, in Crete, Rhodes and Cyprus. Louis IX's expedition of 1270, which is often regarded as the last genuine Crusade, remained right outside the east-Mediteranean area; this expedition was directed against the Moslems in North Africa (Tunis). With the fall of Akko in 1291 Latin rule in Palestine came to an end. This loss made a deep impression in western Europe, and also had definite repercussions for travel to the near East: from now on pilgrimages became more diffic.ul t, with the result that the number of pilgrims to the Holy Land declined considerably. 94 In the years following 1291 the idea of defeating the Mohammedans was still in people's thoughts. The popes, in particular, made fairly regular attempts to organize a new Crusade. These attempts met with small success, since there was little enthusiasm among the majority of fourteenth and fifteenth-century sovereigns for actually setting out on a Crusade. The ideal was kept alive,however, by fanatical crusade preachers. Sometimes preparations even reached the stage where a small expedition actually did set out but the real purpose, the reconquest of Jerusalem,_was never achieved. 95 I want to take a closer look at some of these attempts to revive the crusading ideal, because these activities gave rise to some descriptions of Greece. Attention will be directed to three periods: the time around l330 with the preparations of the French king, Philip VI of Valois; the expedition of the Hungarian king Sigismund, which ended dramatically in 1396 with a crushing defeat by the Turks at Nicopolis; and the crusade plans of Philip the Good of Burgundy in the middle of the fifteenth century. When in about 1330 the French king Philip VI hinted that he was considering going on a Crusade, he was soon presented

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with a complete scenario for such an undertaking, the Directorium ad faciendum passagium transmarinum. 96 The identity of the author of this document is not entirely certain, although manuscript tradition already attributed it at an early date to a certain Brocardus or Burchardus. It was known from the text that the author was a Dominican who had lived for many years in the Near East. 97 On the grounds of a strong similarity of style, but especially of ideas, Kohler has tried to show that the author of the Directorium was Wilhelmus Adam, 98 the Latin bishop of Smyrna, later archbishop of Soltanija (in Azerbeidjan) and finally of Antivari in Albania. 99 Adam's violently anti-Moslem attitude can perhaps best be illustrated by the title of his best-known work: De modo Saracenos extirpandi. 100 The Directorium did not succeed in exerting any direct influence on the actual preparations for the expedition; it was put before the king and his advisers, but after they had studied it it was laid aside as impracticable. As it contains various passages in which the author gives his fourteenthcentury view of Greece, a region through which he himself had travelled - he spent some time in Constantinople and Pera 101 - it should not go unmentioned. The tone of Brocardus' work is violently anti-Greek. He wishes to take revenge for the loss of the Latin empire in 1261 and to punish the faithless Palaeologians who keep talking about church union but never keep their promises. In the beginning of his work he deals in detail with the various routes to the Holy Land, 102 and expresses his preference for the route across the Balkans. He sees Thessalonica as a suitable rendez-vous for the various groups of participants. From there a thirteen-day journey leads to the capital of the Palaeologian empire. He gives a short description of the situation of Constantinople; attention is par~ ticularly directed to the small number of inhabitants and the many open spaces inside the extremely strong walls. In his work a clear contrast is made between strong, well-populated Pera and weakened, underpopulated Constantinople on the other side of the Golden Horn. He makes the interesting statement that with the exception of some of the palaces all the houses in the city were made of wood. 103 In spite of the strong walls surrounding it Brocardus reckons that the city could be conquered after a siege of only one day, and bases this obviously highly exaggerated assessment on the cowardice of the Greek inhabitants. Brocardus shows no interest in what was inside the city.

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Twice he mentions the Hagia Sophia, and seems to assume that this building was generally known to people in the West. To stir up hatred of the Greeks even further the author describes how in a crypt near the walls of the Bucoleon palace, he saw a great heap of bones, those of the Franks killed by Michael VIII in 1261, 104 he says. As the second city of the Empire Thessalonica receives a passing mention. The conquest of this city was considered to be just as little of a problem as that of Constantinople since although the walls were strong they were not everywhere well maintained. 105 Athens is not mentioned separately: the ducatus Athenarum, then in Catalan hands, is referred to with the Venetian Negropontum (Euboea) only as a place where supplies of wine, vegetables, oil and cheese could be obtained. Only one ancient tradition is touched upon: the city of Ephesus was said to have been founded by the Amazons and by women. 106 These few fragments of information are all that this educated man, who has spent a large part of his life in the Near East, feels inclined to say about the Greek territory he has visited. Neither the Palaeologian Empire nor the Latin states in Greece played any part in fourteenth-century crusade plans. If Brocardus assumed that Thessalonica and Constantinople could be conquered en passant, another crusade preacher leaves the whole area completely out of consideration. Marino Sanudo the elder, a nobleman from Torcello near Venice, spent much of his life in the Byzantine area of the Levant. For many years he lived on the island of Naxos, where his family bore rule as dukes of the Archipelago. 107 In his Secreta fidelium sanctae crucis, a remarkable mixture of pilgrim guide, report about strategic positions and exegesis of the Bible, he mentions only Palestine and Egypt; it may be concluded that he thought the Latin and Greek rulers with the exception of the Knights of St. John of Rhodes so weak and unimportant that he does not mention them anywhere in his lengthy treatise. The Secreta was presented to Pope John XXII in 1321, and some ten years later the same document was laid before Philip VI of Valois 108 as a support and a stimulus for his crusade plans. Copies were also presented to other sovereigns. All the more striking, by contrast, is the entirely different nature of another work that can also be associated with the crusading activities of the time round about 1330:

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the treatise by Wilhelm von Boldensele which has already been discussed in detail in the section on pilgrims. His relationship with cardinal Elias de Talleyrand, one of the leading figures in the undertaking, makes it extremely likely that Boldensele's pilgrimage was not merely religious and devotional. It may be assumed that the need for recent information about the areas the expedition would be aiming for probably played a decisive role in his committing the account of his pilgrimage to paper. The high level of education of the author, who had spent a considerable part of his life in the Dominican order, 109 is a guarantee of the high quality and the reliability of his account. Boldensele naturally devotes most attention to the Holy Land; his description of Constantinople, Troy and Ephesus indicate, it seems to me, a personal interest in these places, which he was acquainted with from ancient history. It must, moreover, be said that Boldensele had an eye for the aesthetic qualities of the ancient monuments he saw; his description of Constantinople and of the great basilica in Ephesus make this quite clear. It is this positive attitude to remains from antiquity that makes Boldensele's work differ so widely from that of his contemporaries Brocardus and Marino Sanudo. For some time it looked as if the undertaking of Philip VI would be a success. Part of the combined fleet which had been sent on ahead 110 won a victory in 1334 at Cassandrea, off the coast of Thessaly, and shortly afterwards the Turks suffered a second defeat at Smyrna. 111 In the following year the rest of the fleet lay ready on the Riviera, fully equipped for the expedition; in Crete the Venetians had completed all their preparations, as had the Knights of St. John in Rhodes. And then as a result of the growing threat from England - the beginning of the Hundred Years' War - Philip VI suddenly cancelled the whole undertaking.112 After the Turks had crossed the Hellespont, in about the middle of the fourteenth century, and had settled permanently on European soil, their power and their territory both extended with extreme rapidity. Making use of internal quarrels in the Byzantine imperial family they went into action in Thrace in 1346, as allies of the usurper John VI Cantacuzenus (~346-54), and a few years later (in about 1352) they had already established an impregnable base on the peninsular of Gallipoli, which, when Cantacuzenus no longer required their services, they showed no desire to leave. 113

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Although the threat presented by Turkish expansion did not go unnoticed in western Europe, there was little reaction to it, in spite of all the papal appeals for a new Crusade. 114 The only leader who did react to these papal appeals was Count Amadeus VI of Savoy (a cousin of Emperor John V Palaeologus), who in 1366 undertook various manoeuvres in Greek waters. He lay at anchor for some time in July and August off the coast of Attica and Euboea, but did not find it necessary to visit the city of Athens - another proof of the lack of interest in that city in the fourteenth century. 115 A visit was paid, however, on the way past Cape Sounion, to the ruins of the temple. 116 At first Amadeus had some success with his military operations, for he succeeded in·regaining Gallipoli from the Turks, but he then became entangled in the political difficulties between the Byzantines and.the Bulgarians; in 1367 he was finally forced by lack of funds to give up the Crusade, and to go back home loaded with debts. 117 The victory he had gained had no lasting results: the Turks recovered quickly and completely from their defeat. In Niccolo da Martoni's travel account we read how in about ~395 groups of Turks made their way unhindered through Greek territory, plundering as they went. In the years 13951402 Constantinople was continually beleaguered by Turkish troops, and the Latin rulers in Greece were too divided and too weak to offer any resistance. As well as Constantinople, Hungary was also increasingly threatened, as the Turks sought to expand in the area north of the Danube. In ~396 this threat, which was ultimRtely a threat to the whole of Europe, resulted in a number of European rulers again co-operating in a Crusade against the infidels. The stimulation of Philippe de Mezieres was undoubtedly largely responsible for this; his Songe du vieil Pelerin, published in 1389, was intended to imbue young Charles VI, whose education was entrusted to him, with the crusading ideal. 118 France and England, who had just signed a peace in the Hundred Years' War, each made a large contribution to the undertaking. In Burgundy, in particular, there was great enthusiasm for the new Crusade: the young Count of Nevers, John of Burgundy, was placed at the head of the Franco-Burgundian detachment of ten-thousand men. 119 The organizer of the undertaking, the Hungarian king Sigismund, received a good deal of support, including that of German rulers and some from Spain. The whole expedition was primarily intended as support for threatened Hungary; help for Byzantium, that was in a state of great distress, was a very minor consideration. The expeditionary force left

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Hungary for the south, and in September 25 1396 battle was joined with the Turks at Nicopolis, on the south bank of the Danube. 120 Partly because of the reckless and wayward behaviour of the French cavalry, but especially as a result of the treachery of the Hungarian troops, who deserted in large numbers, the crusaders suffered a shameful defeat. Sigismund himself managed to escape, though with difficulty, but many western knights were killed or fell into Turkish hands. Enormous sums had to be paid for their ransom; those who were not of the nobility and could not raise ransom money were pitilessly slaughtered. 121 A fairly full description of the battle of Nicopolis and the ensuing massacre can be found in the work of a German participant, Johann Schiltberger from Bavaria. His life was spared on account of his youth, and after many years in Turkish prisons he managed at great risk to his life, to escape to Constantinople. His participation in Sigismund's Crusade resulted in his writing a description of Turkish territory, but also of a number of monuments in Constantinople. 122 After the Turkish victory the situation of the Greek capital became even more perilous. Emperor Manual II succeeded with difficulty in repelling the continual attacks, aware that after the defeat of ~396 no· further help could be expected from western Europe. His only help came from a small gToup of Frenchmen, (just over 2,000. men} under the warlike Marshal Boucicaut who had been ransomed after Nicopolis. 123 The city appeared to be lost, especially when Manuel's visits to a number of west-European capitals in 1400 gained him many expressions of sympathy, but nothing at all in the way of practical support. 124 Deliverance came from a completely unexpected quarter: Bajazet's defeat by the Mongols under Timur at Angora in 1402 put a sudden end to the siege of the city of Constantinople, which had been going on for years. The battle of Nicopolis resulted in an important change in the crusade ideal. Previously the Moslems in Palestine had been great, but distant, enemies. The ideal of liberating the holy places was kept alive by the rousing writings and speeches of crusade preachers, while the stories and reports of pilgrims returning from Palestine also stimulated interest in such an undertaking among a wide ~ross-section of the population. No practical action resulted, however, since rulers could expect no political advantages from such expeditions to distant places. Nicopolis suddenly showed that the enemy was much nearer by, and that he already had large areas· of south-east Europe in his possess-ion. 12 5 In spite

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of this not one monarch was prepared to take any energetic action against the Turks, or to support the state which was most threatened, the steadily shrinking Palaeologian empire. There was hardly any interest at all in Greece, the main factors responsible for this lack of interest on the part of the West being the fact that politically Byzantium meant nothing to them, and the difference in religion. Negotiations for a church union made regular progress, but never actualiy led to any definite, concrete results. The positive idea of the Greeks as Christian brothers thus never quite overcame the negative view that they were schismatics. 126 This largely explains the fact that western Christendom watched without apparent emotion the downfall of the Palaeologian empire. When in 1453 the capital, Constantinople, fell into the hands of the Turks, the news did, it is true, cause great agitation in western-Europe; but this soon died down, because in fact the political situation actually remained unchanged. 127 The only place where some limited degree of response was given to the repeated appeals of the popes to combat the Moslem threat was in Burgundy. Several times during his long reign (1419-67) Philip the Good made preparations for a Crusade. Each time, however, the complicated political situation, prevented him from carrying out these plans. In how far Philip regretted this, and to what extent his promises, reinforced by costly oaths, were actually sincere, it is hard to say; but there is room for some doubt on this score, since Burgundy had little to gain from such an undertaking. It may reasonably be assumed that in the Burgundian readiness to embark on a Crusade a desire for revenge for the bitter humiliation of Philip's father at Nicopolis may well have played a role. We may be certain that Philip's crusade plans received a warm reception from his third wife, the Infante Isabelle of Portugal, whom he married in 1430. 128 Combating the unbelievers was something very much after her own heart. The travels of Ghillebert de Lannoy and Bertrandon de la Broquiere must be seen as forming a part of the preparations of Philip the Good. Ghillebert de Lannoy undertook many long journeys as an ambassador; in 1421 he set off for the Levant on the orders of Philip and the English king, and visited various different areas there. 129 His orders were to obtain as much information as possible about the state of affairs in those places. Some ten years later, in 1432, Bertrandon de la Broquiere set out from Burgundy with the same brief. 130 Whereas de Lannoy travelled as a diplomat Bertrandon de la Broquiere

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went to the Levant as a pilgrim. Like Lannoy he visited Byzantium and Arabic and Turkish territory; but where the diplomat speaks of Greece only in vague terms referring to friendly reception given him at the Greek court and the 'merveilles et anciennetez' in the capital, 131 Bertrandon has described what he saw on his way through Greece and Asia Minor in detail. It is true that the written version of his account only came into being many years after his journey; the work is dated after the fall of Constantinople, 132 in about 1455, and this date may be related to the events at the 'feast of the pheasant' at Lille in 1454, where Philip made a solemn promise to work with all his might for the reconquest of Constantinople, 133 About his outward journey via Corfu, Modon, Candia and Rhodes Bertrandon does not say much. The galley left Rhodes again so quickly that he hardly had time to pay a swift visit to the city. 134 His description of the return journey is more detailed: he travelled on horseback through Asia Minor, visiting Bursa amongst other places, but passing Troy by; 135 from Scutari he crossed to Pera, and then went on to stay with a Catalan merchant in Constantinople. His meeting with Benedetto Folco da Forli, the ambassador in that region of the Duke of Milan, 136 was to lead to a combined journey to the court of the sultan, who received them both in audience, As a diplomat and a high-ranking nobleman Bertrandon was also granted an audience with the Byzantine emperor, The emperor was particularly anxious to be informed about the recent events in France concerning Joan of Arc. Bertrandon's description of Constantinople is fairly lengthy, and gives a good picture of daily life in that city, 137 but it also shows that Bertrandon was not particularly interested in antique monuments. He describes relatively few buildings, and what he says about them offers little in the way of concrete information, What is interesting, and not known from any other sources, is Bertrandon's remark that he attended a mystery play in the Hagia Sophia, where the story of the Three Young Men in the Fiery Furnace was performed, 138 The Hippodrome is mentioned only en passant; there he saw the Emperor's brother taking part in the riding competitions. There is, however, no description of this famous building, nor is there any mention of the famous pillar of snakes. Bertrandon does describe the statue of Justinian, but identifies it with the wrong emperor (Constantine). He makes a similar mistake when he says that the grave of Helena could be seen in the Pantocrator Church; probably he was confusing

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Helena with the empress Irene. In the Blachernae palace his attention is specially attracted by the little chapel of Mary, because of the great beauty and riches of its interior. Old traditions sometimes come to his notice, such as the story (which he does not rightly understand) about the destroyed palaces, the material from which emperor John V (1341-91) had wanted to use, in 1391, to reinforce the walls; 139 and the story, also incorrectly reported, about the pile of bones of the Franks killed in 1261 by Michael VIII, visible for all to see at the Bucoleon. According to Bertrandon these were the bones of pilgrims who had died on the way to Palestine. Like others who visited Constantinople in that period Bertrandon mentions innumerable open spaces in the city, and emphasizes that the emperor's scope was limited, and that in fact most of the power was in the hands of Venetians and Turks. 140 It is doubtful whether this upset him at all; his opinion of the Greeks is rather unfavourable, and his admiration for the Turks is made perfectly clear. 141 He expects little good to come of the recently negotiated church union, since he is of the opinion that it was rather the result of poverty and necessity than of conviction. 142 On January 23 1433 Bertrandon de la Broquiere left Constantinople to return to Burgundy by way of the Balkans. He describes various places he visited on this return journey; the great and powerful Adrianopolis, that had, for several decennia been in Turkish hands, and also the extensive ruins of Trajanopolis. At Serres he thought he saw the battlefield of Pharsalus (which he calls Thessaly); whether this was a local tradition cannot now be determined; in any case that is not where Pharsalus is to be found. A tomb in the vicinity of Aenus is related by Bertrandon to the Trojan Polydorus, the son of Priam, who was murdered and robbed of his wealth in Thrace after the fall of Troy. 143 It is very well possible that as Bertrandon looked at the tomb near Aenus he had in mind the appropriate passage from the third book of the Aeneid. 144 There is a remarkable difference between the worlt of de Lannoy and that of de la Broquiere, if one considers the attention these two authors pay to the Greek empire. In the account by de la Broquiere some degree of importance is attached to Greek territory: his journey through Macedonia and the Balkans is described in detail. For the Lannoy the visit to Constantinople and the audience with the emperor was just one incident on his journey, which also took him through Poland and Danzig, Russia, Rhodes, Egypt and the

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Holy Land. I believe that the difference in approach is a result of the change, mentioned by Hintzen, 145 in the crusading ideal, a change which occurred round about 1420-30 at, amongst other places, the court of Burgundy. For de Lannoy, in 1421, the goal of the Crusade was still to be found in Egypt: once the Mamelukes had been properly dealt with there, the Holy Land would naturally come into the hands of the Christians. In these plans already expressed a century earlier by Marino Sanudo, Byzantium was of very little importance; the visit to the emperor can thus best be regarded as a courtesy visit. The situation in the Balkans, which from the Christian point of view had been steadily degenerating for some years, made it necessary to change the direction of. the crusade, and to aim primarily at combating the Turks. In this struggle the Balkans and the Palaeologian empire came to occupy a position of central interest. In 1432 the plan designed by Brocardus a century earlier had to be adapted for this purpose, and modified in accordance with the latest information. So Bertrandon de la Broquiere was despatched, travelling, against all advice, over land from Palestine, through Syria and the Turkish territories; after visits to Constantinople and the court of the Sultan he returned to the Burgundian court by way of the Ballmn route. I think it very likely that the earlier crusade plans of Sanudo and Brocardus had something to do with this; a possible indication that this was so is the presence of several copies of these and similar works in the library of Philip the Good. 146 As well as these two reconnaissance trips Philip also organised a small expedition against the Turks. In response to an urgent appeal from Emperor John VIII Palaeologus in 1442 he fitted out a skeleton fleet under the command of Geoffroy de Thoissy, Martin Alfonso de Oliveira and Walerand de Wavrin. 147 The net results of this undertaking were very small indeed. Thoissy operated in the Black Se.a from 1444-5, with little success; Oliveira, it is true, managed to lay hands on a rich booty, but achieved little in the struggle against the Turks; and Wavrin's attempt to prevent a strong Turkish expeditionary force crossing through the straits to Europe ended in miserable failure. One result of this failure was that a Hungarian force on its way across the Balkans under John Hunyadi, 148 was destroyed by the Turks at Varna in 1444. 149 The operations of Walerand de Wavrin have been

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described at length by his uncle, the chronicle writer Jean de Wavrin. 150 One passage in his work deserves special attention: as he lay at anchor in the roads of Tenedos Wavrin realized that he was very close to ancient Tray. This was confirmed by people who knew the area, and unlike many other visitors he was actually shown the right place, a hill on the plain near Hissarlik. 151 The visit to this historic spot did not go undisturbed, for the Burgundians got into a fight with hostile Turks and had to retreat to their ships. 152 Various other ancient traditions also appealed to the imagination of the Burgundians: they all knew about the Golden Fleece, the highest honour the Burgundian sovereign could bestow (founded in 1429), As they cruise through the waters of the Black Sea near Trebizond and the Caucasus, they are aware that what they see before them is Colchis, the land of the Golden Fleece. 153 In referring to the town of Mangalia, a fortress on the Black Sea, Wavrin notes that according to an existing tradition this town was founded by Penthesilea, queen of the Amazons, 154 Despite the enthusiasm with which a decision was taken at Lille in 1454 to drive the Turks out of Constantinople, the expedition of 1443-5 was in fact the last Burgundian operation in Greece, International political developments continually presen~ed Philip with new problems, and demanded his entire attention, The fact that Constantinople was in the hands of the Turks seemed to be regarded less and less as an immediate problem, and its capture in 1453 was accepted as an accomplished fact,

Ill. ENVOYS The drawing up of alliances and trade agreements, the negotiation of peace treaties, the discussion of theological problems or the arrangement of marriages with foreign princes and princesses - all these were reasons for envoys, ecclesiastical and secular, to embark regularly on long and distant journeys. From time to time Greek territory was the goal of such undertakings. A number of diplomatic missions to the Byzantine empire, or rather, exclusively to the city of Constantinople, are only mentioned in the sources as having taken place. 1 Most envoys probably only gave an oral account to their employers of the outcome of their missions. To what extent they paid any attention to what they saw on their way we cannot tell. This is all the more regrettable because envoys, unlike most pilgrims and merchants, were drawn from the more educated layers of the population. Most of those chosen to be envoys, indeed, were members of the nobility, bishops, abbots, or priests. From such people as these one would expect a reasonably precise account of their journey and of their stay in foreign parts. Sometimes merchants, too, who were acquainted with the hazards of the journey and who might well know the way were entrusted with diplomatic missions. One example we might quote of such a merchant is the whole-saler Liutefredus from Mainz, who travelled to the Byzantine empire in 949 as an envoy of the German emperor. 2 Descriptions of Greece written by envoys do exist, though they are not very numerous. Either on their own initiative or on the orders of their employer some envoys to the Byzantine empire did put down on paper an account of their experiences on the journey. The account Liudprand, bishop of Cremona, wrote of his mission is colourful, but otherwise not very useful to us. The execution of diplomatic missions was quite usual in Liudprand's family: his father travelled to Byzantium in 927 in the service of the Longobardic king Hugo, as did his stepfather, on the orders of the same king, in 941. 3 Liudprand actually travelled to the Byzantine empire as an envoy several times, in 949-50 4 for Berengarius II, king of Italy and again some twenty years later, in 968-9, for the German emperor Otto ! 5 who was also king of Italy. He also appears to have undertaken a third journey in 971, but he apparently died on the way, either in Greece or in Italy. 6

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He left behind a detailed account of the second mission which was not, incidentally, successful; the bias of his story is extremely negative, describing the difficult journey across northern Greece (c.58), the cool welcome at the Byzantine court and the arguments with the basileus about whether the German emperor should have the title of 'imperator' or 'rex' (c.2), 7 Liudprand did not see much of Constantinople, as the envoys were kept under a sort of housearrest in the building where they were lodged. This was an understandable measure, since Otto was besieging Bari, in Southern Italy at the time, so that officially he was at war with Byzantium. In an older script, entitled Antapodosis (book of reckoning) Liudprand tells of his first, more enjoyable mission of 949. He mentions the imperial palace (V.21) and gives a fairly full description of the technical marvels to be found there, 8 such as the emperor's throne, which could be moved up and down hydraulically, a tree made of gilded bronze, with gilded bronze birds that could be made to sing by means of a technical device, and two gilded lions of bronze or wood, which could wave their tails and utter terrifying roars (VI,5), He also describes a banquet in the palace (VI. 8) and all sorts of tricks performed by acrobats to amuse the guests. Although there is nothing to suggest that he was not able, in his visit of 949-50, to move about the city freely, he paid no attention at that time to any of the other sights of Constantinople. It may be that in Liudprand's day a tour of the city and an explanation of the most important relics and monuments were not included in the usual programme of entertainment of foreign diplomats. A few hundred years later things were different in this respect, as appears from an account by the Chinese Nestorian monk, Rabban yauma, 9 who was sent to western Europe, by the Mongol king Argoun in 1287, and passed through Cons-tantinople on his way to France and Italy . 1 0 He was entertained with great honour by Emperor Andronicus II who, after conversing with him, entrusted him to the highest court dignitaries who showed him everything there was to see in the city. First they visited the Hagia Sophia, then the most famous of the relics, followed by the graves of Constantine, Justinian and many other celebrities. 11 The same respectful treatment was accorded to the Burgundian envoy, Ghillebert de Lannoy when just over a century later (1421-3) he travelled to various places in Europe and Asia Minor in the service of the English king Henry V and Duke Philip of Burgundy. 12 In Constantinople he

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was given a friendly reception by the Emperors Manuel II and John VIII; he was allowed to join various hunting parties, and also to attend several banquets. A tour of the city was specially arranged for him. In his account Ghillebert de Lannoy simply mentions that this happened, but does not go into any details about what he was shown. 13 A more detailed description is found in the work of a Spanish envoy. In the early years of the fifteenth century the Spanish nobleman Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo 14 went as an ambassador of King Enrique Ill of Castilia and Leon (13901407) to the court of the King of the Tartars, Timur. WestEuropean sovereigns had become extremely interested in events in Asia, especially after the battle of Angora (1402) in which the Turkish sultan Bajazet was crushingly defeated by the Mongols. Ambassadors were exchanged, and so it was that Clavijo left Seville on May 22 1403 together with two companions, the nobleman G6mez de Salazar and the Master of Theology Alfonso Paez de Santa Maria. The journey to Samarkand was to take fifteen months, of which the company spent about five months in Constantinople (winter 1403). From there they travelled via Trebizond to the camp of Timur at Samarkand. The return journey lasted about the same length of time; on March 24 1406 Clavijo arrived back in Spain. To make sure that his journey should not be forgotten Clavijo put an account of his experiences down on paper. For the present study the part which refers to Greece and Asia Minor is important; Cerigo, Rhodes, Lesbos, Troy are mentioned. Much more important, however, is the detailed description of a number of monuments in Constantinople. The company had asked the emperor for a conducted tour of the city, with a visit to the churches and relics. Clavijo devotes great attention to the many relics found in Constantinople but his description goes much further than this. He does not only write that a particular church is decorated with mosaics, but often says what the mosaics depict. This is all the more important because out of the seven churches and monasteries he describes only two now survive; the Hagia Sophia and the Church of John the Baptist in Stoudion. 15 As well as his descriptions of churches and monasteries, which take up the most space, he also mentions other famous monuments, such as the Hippodrome, the Serpentine column and the statue of Justinian I. The general impression Clavijo gives at the end of his account is that the city is in a serious state of decay. The many open spaces inside the walls, the small number of inhabitants and especially the ruins to be found

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everywhere in the city, all these indicate that by comparison with earlier days the city had greatly declined in wealth and prestige. Soon after 1406 Clavijo made his account of his travels into a book, in Spanish. Various copies of the work were soon to appear, for the book enjoyed great popularity in Spain. 16 After 1204 the Byzantine court was no longer the only place in the Greek world to which diplomatic traffic was directed. There was doubtless regular contact between the lords of the Latin states and the countries from which they originated. In the sources, however, no descriptions can be found of the country, nor of any monuments that may have been seen. As well as all these secular legations there were also regular ecclesiastical contacts between Byzantium and the West. Before the schism of 1054 these consisted mainly of relationships between Popes and Patriarchs and the delegates to councils and synods. After the schism envoys were continually being sent to negotiate a restoration of unity between the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches. The few reports on this subject which have survived consist mainly of expositions of the subjects with which the theological disputes were concerned; 17 the question of the filioque and the use of unleavened bread (azyma) were matters of the greatest importance. The only fragment I have been able to find that is of interest for the purposes of this study is from the account of the legation of two Dominicans and two Franciscans 18 to the court of John Ill Vatatzes in Nicea in 1234. On arriving in that city they asked the way to the cathedral church, but were taken to the old church where the Council of Nicea was said to have taken place. There they saw on the walls portraits of the fathers who had taken part in that famous Church assembly. 19 After they had made a lengthy tour of the city they were taken to the places where they were to stay. A passage of this sort, however, is unique; usually attention is limited only to points of theological disagreement. Just as Constantinople was an important place of pilgrimage for Russians, so in the Russian Church the patriarchate of Constantinople was the place to which people took any serious internal problems. In about l389 there were great problems concerning the leadership of the Russian church; the question was brought before the patriarch of Constantinople by delegates from the various parties. Two of those who took part in these missions wrote descriptions of their

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stay in the Byzantine capital which have survived. In 1389 the Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia, Pimen, left for Constantinople with a great retinue. The reason for his journey was not so much one of piety, although a visit to the most famous relics was doubtless included in the programme. Pimen hoped, however, that his legitimacy, which was much in dispute, would be recognized by the Patriarch. 20 An account of his visit to Constantinople has survived, written by one of his retinue, a certain monk, Ignatius of Smolensk. 21 Ignatius, by contrast with most visitors to Constantinople, remained in this city for a very long time. From his account it appears that he spent at least three years there (1389-1391). I believe that the explanation for this long stay lies in the fact that in September 1389, in Chalcedon, Pimen died. His followers found themselves in a difficult position, in view of the fact that the leadership of the Russian Church was now in the hands of the 'opposition'. The great internal difficulties of 1390-1 even led in the following year to the excommunication of the entire city of Novgorod. 22 I therefore consider it quite possible that some of Pimen's followers sought refuge, after his death, in a Russian monastery in Constantinople. The year was already well advanced and because of the winter storms the season was not favourable for travelling. Yet some members of the delegation did return hastily to Russia in the train of the new Metropolitan, Cyprianus I, only narrowly escaping being shipwrecked on the way. ~lost of them, however, remained in Constantinople for periods ranging from a few months to several years. By far the greatest part of Ignatius's account consists of the description of many of the relics, but he does also make some incidental references to monuments, which are of some importance to us here. One nice detail is that he mentions going up the dome of Hagia Sophia. It was during Ignatius's stay in Constantinople that the battle took place between John VII Palaeologus and Manuel II (1390). This battle and the subsequent coronation of Emperor Manuel are described in considerable detail. 23 The account goes straight on to describe a journey of Ignatius in 1405 to Thessalonica, where he venerated the grave of Saint Demetrius, and the monasteries on Mount Athos, which he also visited. What happened in the intervening years we are not told. The work ends with an undated

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description of a journey through the Holy Land, which, incidentally, is not found in all the surviving manuscripts. 24 A fairly detailed description of Constantinople in the late Palaeologian period comes to us from a Russian author whose name is not known. Evidence in the text, which refers to the last Emperor and the last Patriarch, indicate, according to Khitrowo, that the account was written in the years just before the conquest of the city by the Turks, during the rule of John VIII Palaeologus (1425-48), The last paragraph, in which the author draws a comparison between the rather decayed city which he saw and the far richer and more flourishing place of the days of Constantine and Helena, points at least to the last decennia of the rule of the Palaeologians. Mango's opinion, 25 based on another Russian version, is that the visit to Constantinople took place in 1389-90, and that the author should be sought among the group of Russians who, like Ignatius of Novgorod, had come to Constantinople in connection with the Pimen-Cyprianus question. Since Mango's arguments seem to me irrefutable, I have kept to his dating. The author of the document was a monk, and he says that he lived in a monastery in the north of the city, dedicated to St. Andrew. 26 The monuments most frequently mentioned by visitors to Constantinople also appear in this account: the Hagia Sophia, the Hippodrome with its column of snakes, the great columns of Justinian, Constantine and other emperors. But the work also contains other information, such as a reference to a planetarium that used to be in the old imperial palace, but which had now fallen into decay. The author also mentions various bronze and marble statues he saw in the city. There is an interesting passage in which he speaks of the mosaics at the entrance to the Blachernae palace. Summing up, we may conclude that diplomatic traffic was almost entirely limited to the capital and to the court. Not, perhaps, in Liudprand's time, but certainly in later centuries a tour of the city and a view of the most important relics in Constantinople was a regula·r feature of the programme for receiving foreign diplomats. The travellers' experiences most likely featured in their oral report, though this cannot be proved, Written accounts of such excursions survive only in very small numbers. The mentality of the envoy and his personal interests must have played a decisive part here, It should not be forgotten that these receptions for diplomats were organized everywhere, and thus formed a part of an envoy's professional duties. For this reason we may be certain

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that if, in his written account, the envoy makes particular mention of the monuments in Constantinople, it is because he himself was interested in ancient monuments and is particularly impressed by all the old and beautiful things which were shown him in the Byzantine capital.

IV. MERCHANTS It has already been stated in the introduction that in the early middle ages Syrians and Rhadamitic Jews acted as intermediaries in trading between the Byzantine empire and western Europe. Only when this function is taken over by the Italian ports in the course of the ninth and tenth centuries are there any direct contacts between Byzantium and the west-European countries. For a study of trading activities around the Mediterranean during the middle ages Heyd's 1 sound work, though a century old, is still of fundamental importance. A number of detailed studies have also appeared in which one or more aspects of the subject are dealt with. 2 In this chapter I shall examine two of these aspects more closely: 1. the place of the western trading communities inside the Byzantine empire, and 2. the question as to how far antiquities and works of art occupied a special place among the objects which were traded. 1. The policy of the Byzantine emperors was aimed at controlling industrial and commercial activities within the empire by means of all sorts of rules and regulations. 3 Internal trade was the province of Greek merchants, while for foreign trade contacts it was preferred to use the services of nonGreeks. Business was concentrated mainly in Constantinople, which was the centre of an intensive transit-trade; Thessalonica, Smyrna and other ports came to occupy a much less significant place with regard to the capital. As a result of this concentration of trading activity Constantinople became an extremely cosmopolitan city. From the ninth to tenth centuries an increasing number of people of all nationalities appeared there besides the Levantines: Italians, Arabs, Russians, and from the twelfth century Turks as well. They all received a temporary permit to reside in one of the suburbs, and at first were subjected to strict control, 4 Because of their greater freedom and flexibility the Italian merchants were in a favourable position. In Italy, by contrast with Byzantium and the places under Islamic rule, they were not subjected to a strict bureaucracy. As a result they were able to move swiftly and easily in the field of international trade. 5

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The greatest trade activity was developed by Venice, The Venetians' good relationship with Byzantium was due to the fact that nominally they were vassals of the emperor and recognized Byzantine sovereignty. The emperor could give them orders, but on the other hand they enjoyed the privileges of Byzantine citizens. 6 The position of Venice in northern Italy, not far from the centres of the Frankish and German empires, offered them extremely favourable perspectives for busy commercial traffic. Contacts between Constantinople and Venice went back as far as the early ninth century. 7 In 992 the trade concessions granted to Venice were set down on record in a Chrysoboullos drawn up by the emperors Basil II and Constantine VIII and the doge Pietro II Orseolo. 8 In the course of the eleventh century the Byzantine emperor found himself obliged, as a result of fighting against the Normans and the Seljuks, to grant more and more generous concessions to the Italian sea ports, in view of the fact that he could not do without their fleets. The policy of only allowing temporary residence could no longer be maintained, and so shortly after 1050 the first permanent settlements of foreigners appeared in Constantinople. Syrian merchants were the first to be admitted; they were soon followed by Venetians and Amalfitans. In 1082 Alexius I granted great privileges to Venice in return for the support of their fleet: the Venetians obtained the right to free trade in the entire empire, were exempted from taxes and controls, and were henceforth allowed to settle in an area of their own inside the city, along the Golden Horn. 9 The inevitable disadvantage for the Byzantine emperor, i.e. that the strict control on the state monopolies of Greek fire, silk and gold could no longer be maintained, was something he was obliged to accept. In 1148, under Manuel I, permission was given for the Venetian quarter to be extended, and in the course of the twelfth century its population grew to many thousands. Their growing power engendered fear and hate. In 1172 Manuel had thousands of Venetians arrested, and confiscated their property, 10 but by this time their power was so great that the emperor had no choice but to make peace quickly and to make good the damage. But even though the emperors were compelled for political reasons to give in to the powerful western merchants, the hatred felt by the Greek population grew, until in 1182 their fury found an outlet in riots in the western quarters: in this explosion thousands of Latins, especially Genoese and Pisans, met their death. 11 Political interests prevailed, however, and in 1187 Isaac II

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reintroduced the western privileges; it is striking that the treaty now drawn up with the Venetians is formulated in terms of an agreement between two equal partners. 12 The events of 1204 brought three-eights of Constantinople into Venetian hands, a situation that was to continue until 1261. Under Michael VIII Venice lost its privileges to Genoa, but not for long; as early as 1285 Venetian merchants were back in the city, and in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries their colony continued to be very important. In fact the baile in Constantinople ruled independently of the Greek court, and was also in charge of Venetian officials working in the Levant. 13 As a result of the foundation of the Latin states the internal trade of Greece also came into western hands. Many of the places which were favourably situated from the trade point of view had become Venetian property, and in others Venetians operated as agents. The competitors, Genoa and Pisa, also had important interests in Constantinople, but they had commenced their activities there later. 14 A Pisan quarter was established in Constantinople in 1111; the Genoese first set up a trading post in a suburb between 1155 and 1160, and obtained a place of their own in the city in about 1170. 15 In 1204 they were driven out of the city by the Venetians, and retired to Pera, on the other side of 'the Golden Horn. The treaty of Nymphaeum in July 1261, between 1\Iichael VIII and the Genoese, again gave them exclusive trading rights in the empire. They were also allowed to open consulates in many places in the Palaeologian empire; the Black Sea region with Kaffa, established on the Crimea in 1266, came to occupy a central place in Genoese trade. 16 Genoa also had settlements in the Latin states: in 1240 a trading post was opened at Thebes because of the silk industry there. A few years later a similar post may have been opened in Athens for the same reason. 17 The Catalan merchants were fewer in number than their Italian counterparts; from about 1250, however, they too set sail for Constantinople and Pera in increasing numbers. 18 As well as the numerous Italian merchants Constantinople had a number of Russian traders. They also lived th.ere with a temporary permit of residence at first, and later in their own quarter, called 'Mitaton' . 19 In Russian chronicles, such as that known as the Nestor Chronicle, 20 we find repercussions of th.eir activities. Not only Constantinople, but also the Black Sea port of Trebizond was important for trade with Russia,

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The same route through the Black Sea and the Russian rivers was used by Scandinavian merchants. Discoveries of Byzantine objects, especially coins, in Scandinavia prove - particularly for the period 975-1025- that frequent contacts existed. 21 Arab merchants were also housed in their own quarter of Constantinople. Except during times of war, the Greeks' attitude to the Arabs, and later also to the Turks, was generally fairly favourable. 22 In the twelfth to fourteenth centuries in particular the relationship between Christians and Arabs was mostly better than that between eastern and western Christians. The events of 1182 and 1204 were not quickly forgotten on either side! The positive attitude towards Arabs is clear, for example, from the fact that when towards the end of the twelfth century the Latin population groups of Constantinople wanted to plunder and burn the mosque, the Greek population helped to protect it. 23 The Moslem merchants were highly thought of in Constantinople, because they were responsible for the import of many coveted products from the Middle East (Bagdad, Syria. and Egypt) and even, by way of the great caravan routes, from the Far East (Samarkand, China). Although in the tenth century Thessalonica was already a wealthy city, as a trading centre it was mainly of only local importance. Contacts with foreign countries were comparatively few; activity was directed mainly towards the Slav people in the Balkans. As well as a large Jewish community, from the tenth century onward there were small groups of foreign merchants living there, especially Italians. In the course of the twelfth century their numbers also increased in Thessalonica, 24 although the numbers never compared with those in Constantinople. Because of the slow silting up of the harbour Thessalonica's trading activities did not increase, but underwent a gradual decline after the twelfth century. A similar decline took place in various other harbours on the Peloponnesus; there, too, the influence of western merchants did increase in the twelfth century, but their numbers remained small, and only in a few cases is there any question of permanent settlement. 25 There is little material to be found among the merchants concerning the people of the country in which they stayed. It must be borne in mind that these people were primarily interested in commercial persuits, not in literary or contemplative ones. Their average level of education, too, was not very high. Another important factor is that these

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merchants lived in isolation inside the Byzantine state. They were tolerated for business reasons, but because of the absence of sources it is not possible to discover to what extent they had any close relationship with the native population, or whether the foreigners came to understand anything of Byzantine culture. In how far they understood each other's language- an extremely important factor in making contact with each other - will be discussed later. 26 An illustration of this lack of communication is the book by Marco Polo, whose father and uncle left for China from Constantinople after they had stayed there for several years (1254-60). He simply mentions Constantinople as the point of departure, without any further comment. 27 Yet here, too, there are some exceptions: people such as Burgundio of Pisa, who grew up in the Pisan quarter of Constantinople and later regularly acted as an interpreter and as a translator of Greek manuscripts, or Moses of Bergamo, who lived in the Venetian quarter of the city, and who built up a library which also included Greek manuscripts. 28 These people are exceptions, who deviate from the normal pattern of behaviour of the mass; it is for this very reason that their names are still known. Yet the presence of so many merchants on Greek soil was not entirely without consequences. These innumerable traders doubtless spoke about their experiences when they offered their products for sale in the West. In this way they helped to form the picture of Greece held by people in western Europe. They contributed nothing to the written sources; their most important contribution was to load and transport the Byzantine and oriental objects - particularly luxury objects - so loved in the West. Apart from this they also had the function in Byzantium of giving a hospitable reception to their travelling compatriots. Of the Italian merchants, a group of bankers managed to obtain great influence in Greek territory during the course of the fourteenth century. The famous Florentine family of the Acciajuoli had acquired extensive property in the Morea because of their strong financial links with the Angevin Kings of Naples, who were also princes of Achaea. 29 Because of their great wealth they largely dominated economic life; in particular the trade in spices and oriental products was 30 in their hands. Their influence was also felt in the political field and in the life of the Church: during the fourteenth century more and more members of the Acciajuoli family are found in the highest civil and ecclesiastical

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functions, as Cardinal-Archbishop of Patras and as lords of Corinth. In 1385 Nerio I undertook an expedition, starting from Corinth, against the Catalans in Athens, and two years later both the city and the Acropolis were in his hands. Until the Turkish conquest in 1456 the Acciajuoli were to reside on the Acropolis and the Acrocorinth. 31 The reconstruction of the family tree must date from this last period, the fourteenth to fifteenth century: the Italian family claimed to be descended from a certain Angelos, a brother of Emperor Justinus II; this ancient link with the Greek world was supposed to make the rule of the Acciajuoli appear more legitimate. 32 To what extent their Greek subjects actually believed this is not known! 2. The trade in works of art and antiquities The place which works of art and antique objects occupied in medieval trade is not very clear. In the sources I have used there is hardly any information on this score. Lestocquoy's study on the subject 33 remains vague and unsatisfactory, Moreover, he limits his research to objects which were made in the middle ages, such as Limoges enamel and twelfth-century baptismal fonts from Doornik, and nowhere does he make any reference to objects from classical antiquity, It is certain that no special arrangements were made for works of art: they were merely merchandise, just as utensils and weapons were. This is clear from published fragments of the archives of the trading firm of Francesco di Marco Datini de Prato, the great Italian merchant, who lived in Avignon in about 1355, 34 As well as the weapons and other war requisities this firm also dealt in works of art such as paintings, painted chests, embroidered garments, enamel and gold-smithery. Nowhere is there any mention of pieces which go back to classical antiquity, though such objects may have been included here and there among the merchandise. Nowhere do we find any idea of the artistic importance of these objects; it is always just a matter of sales goods, referred to by the terms 'cose' or 'pezzi', and originating from the work-place of a 'maestro' (craftsman). The absence of any interest in the artistic surplus value is best seen in the instructions to purchasing agents to refrain from buying if the price of works of art was on the expensive side, 35 Yet there must have been some trade in antique material, The use of ancient building materials as spolia points in this direction, The re-use of material from old and decayed

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buildings is actually a practice which continued into the middle ages from ancient times. Information can be found in the literature about the sale and transport of this kind of material. Tradition says of Bishop Sylvanus, for example, (early fifth century) that a large ship intended for the transport of pillars but bewitched by a demon, was able to sail on again normally as a result of the Bishop's prayers. 36 Many examples of the re-use of ancient material could be quoted here; 37 but I shall confine myself to mentioning how for the construction of the town of Kairouan at the end of the seventh century, material was collected from every part of the province of Africa to build the town and its mosque. For two highly valuable columns their weight in gold was even offered, 38 In this light the traditions noted by Ludolf von Sudheim take on a new meaning. Ludolf describes how large parts of the city of Venice were built of material from Troy, adding that the same was true of Genoa and Athens. In view of the absolutely dominant position occupied by Genoa and Venice in the eastern Mediteranean trade in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, such cheap exploitation of ruined buildings can not be dismissed as impossible. In general, however, it was not a matter of columns and other large items of building materials, but of more manageable objects. Free-standing sculptures attracted hardly any interest in the middle ages. \fuy the four bronze horses should have been spared during the looting of Constantinople in 1204, and transported to Venice, is not clear. A Christian interpretation, as in the case of the enormous statue which is now in Barletta, and which was spared because it was the statue of a Christian emperor, is not really possible here. Perhaps in this exceptional case there may be some feeling for the artistic worth of this work of art. Whether its great age was recognised remains questionable. In the case of the porphyry group of the Tetrarchs, now also in San Marco, built into a side wall, probably not only the value of the material but also an 'interpretatio christiana' were responsible for its survival. Although it was long doubted whether this group originally came from Constantinople, recent research has now provided irrefutable proof that this is so. 39 Whether the group was purchased in the thirteenth century or whether these remains from antiquity also formed part of the spoils of 1204 cannot be told; the sources are completely silent on this matter. All that is known is that the group was- built into the treasure chamber of San Marco after 1231.

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Pillars and other fragments of sculpture often fell prey to souvenir hunters, particularly if they could function in any way as a relic. The Church did, it is true, issue regulations forbidding this, but this never had much effect. Ludolf von Sudheim took no notice of these regulations, and it is certain that Jacob of Verona was also guilty of similar vandalism; 40 thousands of other nameless visitors did the same, There was far more interest in small objects than in large ones, and particularly in gems, cameos and coins. There was, comparatively, a great deal of this material, and it was easy to carry. Yet here, again the beauty of these objects was not the primary consideration; they were collected because of special characteristics which were attributed to them, Some stones were specially recommended for their magic and apotrophaeic powers; they were regarded as talismans, and worked into the decoration of costly garments and bookbindings and even of reliquaries. 41 The ancient representations were no longer understood, and were thus interpreted from a Christian point of view. The scene represented on the famous Grand Camee de France was seen as Joseph's dream, a Jupiter with eagle and victory was identified as St. John the Evangelist with an angel, 42 and a portrait gem of Caracalla was christianized by the addition of the name 'Petrus'. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries coins were increasingly valued and collected, especially those which bore the portrait of a famous emperor. 43 The first collections of ancient works of art consisted largely of coins and cut stones. There was a plentiful supply of these, because again and again hoards were discovered during chance digging. It may be imagined that these small objects were regularly taken away by merchants and sold. These were no more, however, than minor transactions, which I think might have been regarded as additional to their regular wages; this is also the reason why they cannot be found in the records of the large transactions,

V. SOLDIERS

1. Mercenaries Just as the Byzantines conducted their commercial activities through non-Greek merchants, so they were largely dependent for their defence on foreign mercenaries. More and more mercenaries of various European nationalities were incorporated into the Byzantine army. The beginning of this process cannot be traced exactly, but it is certain that from the beginning of the tenth century the Byzantine army offered employment to Scandinavians, Russians, Scythians, Slavs from the Balkans, Normans from western France and from Sicily, Italians, and Anglo-Saxons from England. They all served under their own officers, either in Constantinople or else on the outskirts of the Empire (EQw ~ns nDA8WS) 1• The most coveted posts were in the Emperor's bodyguard, known as the Varangian Guard; those who obtained a position in this hand-picked corps were assured of high pay and considerable standing. The composition of this guard did not remain unchanged throughout the centuries of its existence. Originally it was composed mainly of Scandinavian Vikings. Harald Sigurdsson, later king of Norway (d.1066) distinguished himself in about 1040 as head of the bodyguard of Emperor Michael IV during a Bulgarian revolt. 2 Hara1d returned to Norway with great riches in 1046; great emphasis was later to be placed on these riches gained in Byzantium, especially in the Icelandic sagas. 3 Attempts have been made to trace a connection between the runic inscription on a large, ancient marble lion in Piraeus and Harald's activities in Byzantine service. This figure of a sitting lion, about three metres high, was carried off by Morosini in 1688 as war booty during his compaign in central Greece and the Morea; the lion can now be seen at the gate of the Arsenal in Venice. 4 It is not certain that Harald ever went to Athens. According to tradition he conquered 'a city in the south', but this city could just as well have been situated in Asia Minor or in Sicily. 5 Moreover, the inscription is so worn away that no conclusions can reasonably be based on it. The relationship of the runic inscription of Piraeus to the activities of Harald is thus not based on factual information. Nor are there any indications that the inscription was carved by a member of the Scandinavian troops of Basil 11 Bulgaroc-

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tonus, who visited Athens in 1018/1019. 6 The possibility that this runic text, carved by Norwegians or Swedes, is of a much later date cannot be ruled out. 7 After 1066, the year of the Norman conquest of England, the Scandinavian element in the Varangian Guard declined in favour of the Anglo-Saxons. This change of nationality was not, however, a rapid one, and until at least 1204 the Scandinavian element still dominated, Only in Nicea, and after 1261 also in Constantinople did the English dominate, 8 After the fourteenth century there is no further mention of Varangians in the Byzantine sources. But the possibility cannot be ruled out that a small number of them may have remained in imperial service until the Fall of Constantinople. There were two ways in which the ranks of the Guard were replenished, Firstly there was a certain amount of deliberate recruitment on the part of the Byzantine emperors. We know that Alexius Ill sent envoys to Scandinavia to recruit new manpower. Scandinavian pilgrims and crusaders were often asked, when they got to Constantinople, to join the Byzantine service. A large proportion of Sigurd's force remained behind in the Byzantine capital after their expedition to Jerusalem in 1111, and it is known that Emperor Manuel I tried to persuade Ragnvald of Orkney and his men to enter Byzantine service, when they arrived in Byzantium on a crusade. 9 Secondly, the stories told by soldiers or pilgrims on their return to the far north were also a powerful stimulus for others to set off for Miklagard - the Scandinavian name for Constantinople, A repercussion of these stories is to be found in the Heimskringla of Snorri Sturluson. About Sigurd's journey the following is said: 'horum vero narrationibus adducti multi in Norvegia talis peregrinationis cupidi facti sunt, quo accessit quod Nordmanni qui Miklagardi merere stipendia vellent, abunde pecuniam lucrari dicebantur' . 10 Until well into the thirteenth century many Scandinavians were lured to the Byzantine empire by the thoughts of the gold of Miklagard, travelling either by way of the route across Russia or else by ship across the North Sea and the Mediterranean. One cannot expect any descriptions from these mercenaries; their task was to fight, and with the possible exception of a few of the leaders we may assume them to have been illiterate. Yet the long term presence of so many Scandinavians in Constantinople did not go entirely unnoticed in their country of origin, As has already been said, the great riches which could be gained in Byzantium form a wellknown theme in the Norwegian and Icelandic sagas. It also

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appears that the famous buildings of Byzantium were not unknown in the far north of Europe. Many Scandinavian pilgrims, such as the Icelandic abbot Nicolas of Thingor, 11 directed their gaze especially to the Hagia Sophia, and were deeply impressed by its size and magnificent decoration; in the case of other travellers it was the Hippodrome that made an indelible impression on them. The nordic sagas even include a description of this building, which is most exceptional, as in general sagas are not of a descriptive nature. 12 The period in which the sagas originated was the twelfth to the fourteenth century, but the stories contain much material of an earlier date. This is the case with the material about Byzantium, which had become known in Scandinavia by oral tradition. In the sagas this material is concentrated mainly around the journey of Sigurd, but is in fact drawn from various sources. In the early years of the twelfth century the future king of Norway, Sigurd, set out on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. 13 He travelled by ship across the North Sea, visited Compostela, then went on through the Straits of Gibraltar to the coast of Palestine. The return journey was by ship as far as Constantinople; then Sigurd himself continued by the overland route across the Balkans in the direction of his homeland. A number of his men, however, remained behind in Constantinople and entered Byzantine service. The travel stories recounted by those who returned, particularly those relating to the entry of Sigurd into Constantinople and his reception by the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus (10811118) must have made a great impression on the Scandinavian hearers; it was these very subjects which were soon to be sung of by the saga poets. It is highly unlikely that Sigurd should have entered Constantinople by the Gull Varta (the Golden Gate), 1 ~ since it was most exceptional for this gate to be opened; this was done only for the victorious return of a Byzantine Emperor from a campaign. Dawkins has pointed out that there was a tradition among the Greeks - and also among the Turks, right up to the twentieth century - that whoever came into the city through the Golden Gate would rule over it. 15 The entry through this gate must thus be regarded as a legendary detail, but one in which some knowledge of the tradition may have played a part. The same legendary character must be attributed to the procession through streets carpeted with gold and costly garments to Loktiarna, a name which undoubtedly refers to the Blachernae palace. 16 All these elements are intended to

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increase the fame of the hero Sigurd. The description of the Hippodrome, where in the twelfth century games were still regularly held, is not legendary, but based on personal experience. In the saga the place of the games is called Padreim, a word in which the Greek tnn66po~s can still be recognized. According to the saga, Alexius gave Sigurd a choice: he could either have a great gift of six talents of gold, or else see a special performance of games in the Hippodrome. Sigurd, who up till then had, like a great hero, kept none of the objects offered him, but had given everything away to his followers, once again behaved like a king, and accepted the non-material present. 17 The description of the Hippodrome probably came from members of Sigurd's retinue who had been present at the performances. The Hagia Sophia and the Hippodrome are the only two buildings in Constantinople which are mentioned by name in Scandinavian literature. Other much admired monuments, such as the statue of Justinian and the enormous cisterns, may well have featured in oral accounts, but they have not been included in the sagas as typical of Constantinople. In the later middle ages, when there were so many large and small wars, the mercenary who entered the service of the employer who paid most was to be found everywhere in Europe, and beyond. The Knight in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales 18 wanders through Alexandria, Prussia, Letland and Russia, Granada, Algeciras, Balmaria and Tramissen in North Africa, Lyeys in Armenia, Satalia in Turkey and Palatia in Anatolia. Such a picture shows how extensive the field of work of a mercenary could be. The Palaeologian empire, with its continual struggle against the advancing Turks, also offered employment for such adventurers. In the early years of the fourteenth century these were mainly Spaniards, who, when the war against the Moors in their own country drew to an end, looked elsewhere for work as mercenaries. In 1302 the so-called Catalan Company was formed by Roger de Flor, former Templar Knight, pirate and adventurer. 19 In the following year this group of Spanish mercenaries entered the service of Emperor Andronicus II to fight the Turks. They established their headquarters in Gallipoli between 1304 and 1307. When, after some years, they were dismissed from Byzantine service they continued to wander through Greek territory, and in 1311 the Frankish Duke of Athens, Gautier de Brienne, suffered a crushing defeat at their hands at the Cephisus. The Catalans established their rule in Athens and Neopatras (Thessaly), where they continued in power until the end of the century (1387), 20

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In Greece the name 'Catalan' had, and still has, an unpleasant ring. The word is regularly used in oaths, curses and accusations. The activities of the Catalans as robbers and pirates is undoubtedly largely responsible for this. 21 Their rule cannot, in fact, be described as totally decadent; Rubi6 22 y Lluch has constantly pointed out in his many studies that some positive developments did also take place in these years. There was no question, however, of any cultural activity or of any interest in antique monuments. The Catalans, like the Scandinavians in Constantinople were more skilful with the sword than with the pen. One exception from among their ranks is the chronicle writer, Raman Muntaner. Raman Muntaner was born in 1264 in Peralada, in Spain. He came of the high aristocracy, and at a fairly early age he already became the confidant of the kings of Aragon, a position which he owed entirely to his personal services. 23 Under Roger de Flor Muntaner was attorney general in Sicily, that had belonged to Aragon since the Sicilian Vespers of 1282. When Roger de Flor joined the service of the Byzantine emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus in 1303, as leader of the Great Catalan Company, to fight the Turks, l\1untaner followed him to Greece. After the murder of Roger de Flor in 1305 Muntaner became one of the new leaders of the Catalan Company: between 1305 and ~309 he was governor of the Peninsula of Gallipoli. In 1309 he returned to Spain, and in later years he successfully carried out various diplomatic missions; from ~3~1-14 he was the governor of the island of Jerba, which was threatened by the Moslems. Between ~325 and 1328 Muntaner wrote his chronicle, which deals with the history of Catalonia and Aragon 24 in the years 1208-~327; the accent falls mainly, however, on the period which Muntaner had been through himself, about 1275-~327. The work concentrates almost entirely upon historical events; it has very little to offer in the way of archeological information. Only a few passages deserve our attention: mention of the churches of St. George in Tyra and St. John at Ephesus point, in a work in which hardly anything is said about buildings or monuments, to the fact that these magnificent churches must have made an impression on the author, either because of their size or because of their wealth. To assert, on the evidence of such brief items of information that these passages are of great archeological importance would, in my opinion, be a gross exaggeration. 25 The emphasis is, in fact, not nearly so much on the buildings as on the legends and relics connected with them. 26

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Muntaner did visit Constantinople, but we find no account in his chronicle of what he saw and heard there. There is, however, an interesting passage in which Troy is mentioned: here Muntaner gives a medieval version of the legend of Paris and Helen. I assume that this legend was in circulation among the Greek inhabitants of that area, and that Muntaner heard the story during his governorship of nearby Gallipoli. It is, however, no more than a story; not a word is said about the state of the ruins of Troy at the beginning of the fourteenth century. Because the Catalans dared not remain in Greece without protection they offered the sovereignty of their newly conquered territories to Frederick II of Aragon, the king of Sicily. He accepted their offer but for the rest he gave very little thought to these new additions to his kingdom; he never visited Greece himself, but had it governed by a chancellor. For many years Athens was competently governed by his bastard son, Alfonso Fadrique. 27 Later sovereigns of Aragon also paid little heed to their possessions in Greece. Only towards the end of their rule was there any change in their comparatively uninterested attitude. In 1379 the King of Aragon, Pedro IV was elected Duke of Athens and Neopatras in Thessaly, by the Catalan occupying force in those territories. 28 Although his rule was only of short duration, as it in fact was already at an end in 1385, and ended formally at the end of 1387, the Kings of Aragon, Pedro IV and Juan I did show some degree of interest in their Greek possessions. Juan I (1387-95) called Athens a 'membre important de la nostra corona' ; 29 and at the beginning of his reign he formed the plan of paying a visit to the city. On the other hand he did little to defend his Greek possessions; at the end of 1387 the Athenian Acropolis was captured by the Florentine Nerio I Acciajuoli without much resistance, with the result that Juan's plan was never carried out. Rubi6 y Lluch has given special attention to the humanistic activities of Juan I, and has demonstrated the influence of the latter's friend Juan Fernandez de Heredia, grand-master of the Order of the Knights of St. John who had himself spent a number of years in Rhodes and on the Peloponnesus. 30 Juan I's interest in Hellas is striking; he wanted to relate the great deeds of the Greeks to his own history. He is also known to have been interested in Greek and Byzantine historians, such as Plutarch, Zonaras and the Chronicle of the Morea. 31 Juan's father, Pedro IV el Ceremonioso (1336-87) expressed

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his admiration for the Athenian Acropolis, which he knew only from other people's reports, in words of great praise. In a letter to the keeper of his treasure chest, Pedro de Valls, dated September 11 1380, he writes: 'lo dit castell sia la pus richa joya qui al mont sia e tal que entre tots los Reys de cristians envides lo porien fer semblant. ' 32 That the strategic importance of the Acropolis was partly responsible for this eulogy need not be doubted, but we may also recognize a certain aesthetic appreciation in his words. 33 We may assume that the accounts that Pedro received from envoys and government administrators were so positive and appreciative in tone that the king's attention was drawn to this distant, eastern part of his kingdom, 34 This interest did not lead to any description, but only to admiring words on the part of the King of Aragon. From a political point of view Greece meant nothing to him; his admiration is based only on its culture. Apart from the Catalan Company there were also various small companies from Navarre in Greece in the late fourteenth century. 35 From among their number, however, not a single written account of the area was produced.

2. Prisoners of War The many wars in which the Byzantine empire was involved in the course of its existence were responsible for foreigners regularly paying invoZuntary visits to Constantinople and other Greek cities. Because prisoners of war hardly ever saw much. but had to wait in camps or prisons until they were exchanged or ransomed, not much material can be expected from this group. It is obvious, moreover, that prisoners had very little motive for showing much interest in any special features in the territory of their opponents. Yet, here too, there are some people who deviate from what may be regarded as the usual pattern. For a lengthy and detailed description of Constantinople we are indebted to the Arab author Harfin-ibn-Yahya, who, during fighting in Palestine in the early years of the tenth century 36 was taken prisoner near Ascalon, by Byzantine troops. The prisoners of war were taken by ship to Attalia, and from there over land to Constantinople, 37 There Harfin was soon set free; the reason for this is not known, but Marquart's suggestion, that Hfirun was in fact a Syrian Christian who had only fought for the Arabs under compulsion, may indeed be the explanation why he was so soon released. 38 After his stay in Constantinople Harfin travelled

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to Rome via Thessalonica, Spalato and Venice, He has left us descriptions of both Constantinople and Rome. In the fragmentary version of the work which is all we have no reason is given for the journey to Rome, In my opinion, however, the choice of Rome as his destination makes Marquart's hypothesis even more likely, since Rome was of no significance for Moslems, but of great importance for Christians. His writing has not survived directly, but as part of the work of the Arabian-Persian author Ahmed Ibn Rosteh entitled Kitab alA'lah al-nafisa (book of things of value), 39 Harfin displayed an interest in both religious and secular matters: he visits churches, palaces and monuments. After a few remarks about the size of the city he mentions the Golden Gate with the statue of a group of elephants above it, and also the Pege Gate, In his description of the Hippodrome he refers to the bronze statues on the spina: statues of horses, people, wild animals, lions, etc. His accurate description of the chariot races seems to me to be based on personal observation, He names several of the gates of the imperial palace, and also describes the various companies of guards: black Christians with shields and gilded lances, Khazars with bows in their hands, and Turks armed with bows and shields, There is a lengthy description of the imperial church, but in spite of this there is still some uncertainty about the identification of this building. 40 On the basis of Harfin's description we may conclude that the imperial palace, or at least a part of it, was open to foreigners. Harfin describes how in treasure chambers to the left of the entrance he saw an equestrian statue; he is much more interested,however, in a reception and festive meal being held for Mohammedan prisoners in the palace, Izeddin has shown that except in periods of direct warfare the relationship between Byzantines and Arabs was not bad, and that a reception of this sort in preparation for their release is not inconceivable, 41 For the Arab author the sight of an organ was something quite exceptional. This instrument was played during the meal, while twenty men with cymbals provided a musical accompaniment. A procession from the palace to the Hagia Sophia is described at length; this is undoubtedly a reference to one of the processions which were held on major church festivals. Although Harfin thought he saw the Emperor himself he was probably mistaken about this. The person he describes, with one black shoe and one red one, was not the Emperor but the heir to the throne. 42 The famous statue of Justinian, almost inevitably, is also

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included in Harfin's description. There is one passage, however, which is unique- that devoted to the Horologion, situated near the Hagia Sophia that was traditionally believed to be the work of Apollonius of Tyana, whom Harfin calls Bolonious. 43 Another piece of work which was also attributed to Apollonius was a group of bronze horses at the entrance to th.e palace, 44 which the inhabitants regarded as a talisman. Another talisman, against danger from snakes, consisted of four bronze snal{eS with their tails in their mouths. Although it seems obvious to think of the serpentine column in the Hippodrome, I do not think this is the right identification. In the first place the number of snakes is not the same, but it is also difficult to see a relationship between the snakes with. their tails in th.eir mouths and the outstretched snakes of the snake monument. 45 The tradition which existed in Constantinople with reference to the place where prisoners were executed (the Forum Amastrianum) is found in a mutilated form in Harfin's account. Water was supplied by a large aqueduct that branched off to take water to large parts of the city. Harfin ends his description by speaking of some of the many monasteries he found in the city, with their innumerable religious. The account by Harfin-ibn-Yahya is a work of exceptional interest, with which no western description can compare, Such a variety of interests as he displays is nowhere to be found among western authors at the beginning of the tenth century: this great concern especially for all sorts of nonreligious aspects of life in the Byzantine capital is only conceivable in an author who has not grown up within the western culture, Several centuries later the city on the Bosporus meant the beginning of freedom for another prisoner of war. Johann Schiltberger's long imprisonment among Turks and Mongols came to an end when he escaped to Constantinople. Johann Schilt46 berger was born in about 1381, near Freising in Bavaria. At an early age he left for Hungary in 1394 with his lord; there he joined the crusade army then being formed by king Sigismund to fight the Turks. Schiltberger was present at the crushing defeat of Sigismund's army at Nicopolis in 47 September 1396. lie survived, perhaps because of his youth, the bloodbath carried out by sultan Bajazet after the battle. He was employed in the sultan's retinue as a messenger, and during that period probably took part in the siege of Constantinople, At the battle of Angora he fell, into the hands of the Mongol leader, Timur, and under this ruler and

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his successors Schiltberger participated in expeditions to Armenia, Samarkand, Siberia, Egypt, Arabia and the area round the Black Sea. Near Batoum, in 1426, he and several other prisoners managed to escape and make their way, with great difficulty to Constantinople. The fugitives were given a friendly welcome by Emperor John VIII (1425-48), and were lodged in the house of the Patriarch. The weak position of the Byzantine empire in those years can be seen from the fact that the fugitives were forbidden to go into the streets of the city. If they were recognized by a Turk in the city they could not escape being handed over! In spite of his house arrest Schiltberger did manage to see something of Constantinople, as he sometimes went out with the Patriarch's servants to buy provisions. After he had stayed there for three months a ship became available for the journey home, and in ~427 Schiltberger was back in Bavaria, where he became a Chamberlain to Duke Albrecht Ill. His account of his travels must have been written after his return. Whether Schiltberger wrote it down himself or dictated it to somebody else we can no longer tell. It may be assumed that he did not work from notes made during his thirty-year wanderings, but mainly from memory. Buchan Telfer believes that the author could not read or write, and that for this reason he did not make use of any older literature. 48 This does not seem to me at all certain; similarities to Mandeville, Marco Polo and Clavijo can indeed be found. It cannot be proved that Schiltberger did not know these works; but it is certain that a considerable part of Schiltberger's descriptions is based upon his own observations. Schiltberger regularly distinguishes between 'audita' and 'visa', and is fairly critical in his attitudes. As a source he is thus reliable and useful. Information which differs from that given by other authors is found in, for example, the passage where he says that the Bosporus was dug by Alexander the Great. He also tells of a tradition existing in Germany which claimed that the statue of Justinian was not made of bronze, but of leather. \Vhen he enquired about this an inhabitant of Constantinople assured him that the statue was indeed made of metal, and cast in one piece. He was also told the traditional story about the apple in the Emperor's hand. The size and riches of Hagia Sophia made a great impression on Schiltberger, too. He is the only person to tell the story about the five golden discs which Constantine was supposed to have built into the domed ceiling, two of which

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Emperor Manuel II removed, in order to use the gold in the desperate fight against Bajazet, 49 The ruins of Alexandria Troas were probably pointed out to him as the ruins of Troy as his ship sailed past. Thessalonica is hardly ever mentioned in medieval travel accounts. Schiltberger probably visited the city with the famous shrine of St. Demetrius on one of his journeys in the train of a Mongol leader. He does not mention a date for his visit there. Nor does he describe Thessalonica; he only refers to the oil that flows from the grave of St. Demetrius. 50 He describes the Turkish city of Bursa as a very large place with two hundred thousand houses and eight hospitals. Although these figures are certainly exaggerated this description does give some idea of the great size of this city. Ephesus is only mentioned as the place where St. John the Evangelist was buried, and Izmir is confused with Myra, and as such is referred to by Schiltberger as the episcopal see of St. Nicholas. Unlike HarQn-ibn-Yahya Johann Schiltberger was able to see only comparatively little of the city of Constantinople, Yet his work is also important to us, because his reliable account gives a good picture of what struck a foreign visitor as important in the early years of the fifteenth century, It also includes some traditions which are not found in any other sources. Even though it is possible that because of the language problem Schiltberger did not always properly understand what his guide told him, or that his memory sometimes let him down, yet it is quite likely that some traditions survive in his travel account as they were then recounted to visitors to Constantinople,

VI. MISSIONARIES AND SPIRITUAL ADVISERS Up till the thirteenth century the Roman Catholic Church's missionary work in Asia Minor and Greece did not amount to very much; Benedictines and Cistercians were hardly active at all in the missionary field. The activities of the Cistercians in the Latin empire are specially dealt with in a study by Brown. 1 She draws attention to the fact that Cistercians played an important part in the preparations for the fourth Crusade, and that they were also to be found in many places in the.Latin states; between 1204 and 1261 they had twelve monasteries in Greece, and in the vicinity of Constantinople. It appears from surviving documents that regular contact was maintained with the order's monasteries in the West of Europe: participation in chapters, visitations and papal diplomatic missions led to frequent journeys back and forth. Yet nowhere is there any mention of work among the local Greek population. The presence of the Cistercians in Greece was entirely a Latin affair. This explains why most of the monasteries closed down in or shortly after 1261. Only the foundation at Daphni and a community in Crete continued after 1261 under the Burgundian lords of Athens and the Venetian rulers in Crete. The monks and nuns form the other religious houses returned to houses of the order in Italy and France. For the purpose of this study no contribution whatsoever can be expected from the Cistercians. They lived an isolated life on Greek soil as if there were no Greeks around them at all. The foundation of two new orders, the Franciscans and the Dominicans early in the thirteenth century brought some change in the situation. For them, missionary activities were a major priority; in the Rule of St. Francis there is even a special passage devoted to 'de euntibus inter Saracenos et alios infideles' 2 • Francis himself had given his disciples an example in his journey to Syria. Although missionary work was primarily directed at the areas outside Europe - Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt , Central Asia (Tartars) and even Oriental Asia (China and Ceylon) - Greek territory also formed part of their field of work. Their primary task was the spiritual care of the western Christians in the Latin states; besides this they continued to labour for the union of the two Churches; and they were also actively concerned with the conversion of Orthodox Christians. 3 They, at any rate, showed some concern for the Greek population, which by

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comparison with the Cistercians was a great step forward. In 1220 4 a first monastery was founded in Constantinople by the Franciscans, to be followed eight years later by the first Dominican community in the same city. From then on the number of settlements within the Latin states grew rapidly, so that by the end of the century there were twelve Franciscan monasteries and seven 5 Dominican ones on Latin territory. The conquest of Constantinople by Michael VIII in 1261, and the ensuing persecution of the Latins 6 affected the monasteries only to a limited extent; the Dominicans moved their community to Pera-Galata, 7 while the Franciscans retained their monastery in the City. Because Michael did not want to cause a rift with the Pope the western clergy were left unmolested and after some time even the Dominican community in Constantinople was re-opened. 8 In 1307 the 'Frerioi' were all driven out of the city by Andronicus II and both orders settled definitively in Pera. 9 The situation of all the monasteries in Greece cannot be exactly determined from the sources, but in any case at the end of the thirteenth century there were communities in Negropontum, Candia, Canea, Thebes (from as early as 1247), 10 Athens, Corinth, Patras, Clarentia, Corfu, Cefalonia, Modon and Koron. 11 Just as the French and Italians living in the Latin states barely gave any thought to the country in which they had settled, so many Franciscans and Dominicans - who were also mostly Italians and Frenchmen - concentrated their attention mainly on their religious tasks; from among their number no descriptions of the country, the inhabitants, the history or ancient remains were produced. Their contacts with the Orthodox population are likely to have been mostly rather superficial, for relationships between the Orthodox and the Latins were generally extremely bad. Thus the importance for this study of the missionaries working in Greece is only very slight. These religious were extremely mobile: they are found all over Europe, as crusade preachers but also, in particular, as envoys in the diplomatic service, frequently in aid of negotiations for unity. Because of their knowledge of foreign languages, unusual for their time, they quickly became greatly valued as observers in foreign countries, and their services were made grateful use of by the Pope and by many other rulers. In 1234 a legation of two Franciscans and two Dominicans travelled to Nicea to discuss with John Ill Vatatzes the subject of a Church union, 12 and the second Council of Lyons (1274) also came about largely

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as a result of Franciscan activities. 13 As the orders were open to all nationalities there were also some Greeks to be found among their ranks, although their numbers always remained small. In the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries there were people born in Greece and also those who had worked there for some time to be found all over Europe, and I believe that through their oral contacts they made an important contribution to the spread of some knowledge of the Greek language, 14 improved insight into the Orthodox religion and a greater appreciation of this distant and little-known outpost of Europe.

VII. GEOGRAPHERS

1. Geographic activity up to about 1400 In classical antiquity the study of geography flourished greatly. In the works of Ptolemy and Strabo, to name only the most important writers in this field, 1 a mine of information was assembled about the then known world. In the period between the sixth and the tenth century this knowledge was lost as far as western Europe was concerned. In Byzantium much of it was preserved, but geography was not a branch of science which was practised much there; the Byzantines were especially interested in ancient historical writing, but not so much in ancient geography. 2 Because the Byzantine empire was very self-contained and few subjects of the basileus ever went beyond the borders of the country there was no stimulus to test existing knowledge and compare it with the contemporary situation. The role of Byzantium was one of conservation: until about 1400 the knowledge of the ancient Greek geographers was preserved there, without there being any influence at all from outside. Only in about 1400 did a new interest in the classical Greek geographers arise in western Europe, a development very closely connected with the first translations into Latin of the Greek geographical treatises. Outside Europe there had been further progress based on the knowledge of the Greek geographers. In the world of Islam there was already detailed knowledge of the geography of its own territory as early as 1000; this level was not to be equalled in western Europe until many centuries later. 3 The knowledge inherited from the Greeks was added to with many observations of their own. In particular the statutory pilgrimage to Mecca, caused large numbers of Moslems from every part of Islam to travel. However, poor contacts between Moslem lands and the West of Europe prevented this knowledge from spreading west. In the western-Europe of medieval times geography was not seen as a separate science, and was not counted as one of the seven artes liberales. Geography was usuallK included with geometry, or in some cases with astronomy. Nowhere, however, is there any sign of particular interest in the subject. Cartography was of no significance at all for medieval travel. The function of a map as a means of showing the

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traveller the way in unknown territory is totally unheard of. In drawing maps there was no attempt at giving a genuine picture of the nature of a particular area, but rather an explanation in words and pictures of the most important places in the history of salvation, which was what the middle ages called the history of the world. According to Paulinus Minorita, a Venetian cartographer of about 1300 a good map was 'scriptura et pictura' , 5 In medieval times the function of a map was quite different from what it is now: it was not so much a scientifically reliable document as a beautiful illustrated and colourful addition to a theological (i.e. Bible exegetical) or a historiographical work. Almost invariably the cartographer had not seen for himself places he drew, but he based his work entirely on the literary sources available to him, These were primarily from the Bible, but also from some of the less important Latin geographical treatises from such authors as Solinus, Martialis Capella, Macrobius and Orosius. 6 It goes without saying that as a result of this approach medieval maps are not very accurate, and that to our eyes they look most peculiar. The usual method of taking bearings by the East causes few problems; the absence of a scale, however, and the habit of greatly enlarging at will certain places which were considered important, did make for some rather strange maps. Adapting the map to the size of the page also led to some peculiar shapes! There was no set system for names or symbols; nor did the cartographers keep to particular colours. Seas and rivers are sometimes drawn in green, sometimes in blue; only the Red Sea is invariably coloured red, 7 Because, unlike the Arabs, people in western-Europe drew maps according to the deductive method up till the thirteenth century many of the maps which survive from that time are maps of the world. Starting from the largest entity (the world) they worked down to the smaller entities (the countries). Only in the course of the eleventh or twelfth centuries did the earliest maps of Europe appear; and the first map of a single land, England, goes back only as far as about 1250 (Mathew Paris). 8 No separate maps existed of Greece or the Byzantine empire; where these countries do appear they form part of a larger whole. It is characteristic of the maps of the world that Delos, or sometimes Delphi or Naxos, is shown as the centre of the world; in this they simply follow the ancient tradition, As a result of the Crusades, and perhaps also stimulated by a

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text from Ezekiel, 9 from the twelfth century onward Jerusalem comes to be regarded as the centre of the world. 10 Because the maps of the world were inspired by the Bible and by classical writers Palestine, Greece and Italy also occupy an important place. The further from the classical oikumene the less information given on t~e maps. It remains a remarkable fact that the Crusades, the increasing pilgrim traffic and the growing trade contacts had no noticeable effect on medieval cartography. The increased traffic did lead to more interest, but this was precisely in the old, existing literature. The information found in pilgrims' narratives and in crusade chronicles was not put to use. 11 This may explain why most thirteenth and fourteenth century maps do show Troy, which was known from classical literature but which no longer existed, while Constantinople is often omitted. 12 And yet Constantinople was precisely the place which was visited by most pilgrims, merchants and crusaders. Von den Brincken has summarized in table form the information which can be found in the work of geographers from Hieronymus up to Hartmann Schedel (end of the fifteenth century). 13 With regard to Greek territory the following can be learnt from them: the regions are always referred to by the old, classical names (Thracia, Macedonia, Achaea, Attica); the existence of the Byzantine empire and the changes after 1204 as a result of the establishment of the Latin states, are not shown at a11. 1 ~ As for the towns, up to John of Wallingford (mid-thirteenth century) Constantinople is always included, but even before the end of the Latin empire it suddenly disappears from the map and is no longer to be found. 15 Of the other places that are mentioned there is a clear predilection for the communities to which Paul had written his Epistles (Thessalonica, Corinth, Rhodes) or which had some other connection with his evangelistic activities (Athens - Areopagus; Crete- Paul and Titus). Sparta and Delphi are virtually unknown, and Thebes, the capital of medieval Greece, is nowhere to be found. Of the islands, only Delos, as centre 16 of the world, and Patmos, as the place where St. John the Evangelist lived, play any role; whereas Cyprus, known since antiquity as a bridge between Palestine and Greece, is usually marked. Of the towns of Asia Minor Troy is actually the only one which is generally known. Ephesus also occurs several times as the place where St. John stayed, and as the location of the legend of the Seven Sleepers, but towns such as Pergamon, Nicea, Sardes and Laodicea are only very rarely

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marked on a map. 17 As for the mountains, the mount of the gods, Olympus, is very well known, even though it is sometimes confused with a mountain in Bithynia that was inhabited by monks, and therefore thought to be in Asia Minor. 18 The Parnassus, by contrast, only appears very occasionally on a medieval map. The maps of Europe which appeared from the eleventh to the twelfth century give much the same picture: the geography of Greece is only of minor importance. The oldest known map, that of Lambert of St. Omer, 19 ignores all contemporary political boundaries; it is based on the fifth century work of Martianus Capella. Only one Greek city is marked, Athens; and one mountain, Mount Olympus. On this map Naxos replaces Delos as centre of the world. Lambert's accompanying text consists of a long list of genealogies, starting with Priam, who was regarded as a forefather of the Franks. From the above the following points can be concluded for the purposes of this study. In the middle ages travellers could not obtain maps of the places they were going to visit. This is not only true of Greek territory, but applies to all the countries of Europe, and beyond. Such very limited cartographical activity as was developed was, moreover, based on out-of-date philological data, in which the centres of classical Greece did play some part, but remained far less important than places known from the Bible. There is no development of cartography in the West until the fifteenth century. For a knowledge of contemporary Greece the geographic writings are of no use whatsoever. The activity was, after all, of a theoretical nature; for the solution of practical problems, such as occurred with the development of trade and traffic, geography as it then existed offered no solutions. As science took no interest in the problems of travellers, and particularly those of the seamen, they had to look for their own solution to their problems. As a result of technical progress in shipbuilding, but especially of the introduction of the compass (which was imported from China by the Arabs and its application perfected by the Italians) it became possible from the thirteenth century onward to sail directly across the sea. This had great advantages for the increasing sea traffic, but maps on which coast lines, islands, good harbours and shallows or reefs were clearly marked now became essential. Purely practical cartography probably originated among the Scandinavians. 20 They were soon followed in the thirteenth century by Italian and Catalan seamen. Their maps are usually

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wrongly referred to as 'portolani'; this term actually referred to the port officials. The proper name is 'carte nautiche' or 'carte portolaniche' . 21 If originally maps were only made showing the coastline fairly exactly as a help to seamen, soon the Genoese, Venetians and Pisans set to work to produce very exact sea maps. 22 These were drawn fairly well to scale, and did not cover large areas but only areas of a limited extent. Most ships had such maps on board from the thirteenth to fourteenth century 23 and their use is occasionally mentioned in travel accounts. Thus Niccolo da Poggibonsi writes: 'e arrivamo a una isola che si chiama nella carta Sapienzia' . 2 ~ There were also fairly accurate maps of Greece, which were intended exclusively for shipping in that area. They give no information whatever about the interior; only the coastal area is shown, with numerous names. Monuments are nowhere marked on them; information based on literary sources will also be looked for in vain. In this lies the great difference between these 'empirical' maps and the usual mappae mundi. 25 When Ptolemy's Geographica became known, shortly after 1400, new paths opened up for the study of geography. The works of the Italian geographer Cristoforo Buondelmonti, which appeared shortly afterwards and were especially concerned with Greece, are the first in which the influence of Ptolemy can be clearly seen.

2. Cristoforo Buondelmonti In about ~405 the Latin translation of Ptolemy's Geographica, which had been begun by Manuel Chrysoloras~ was completed in Florence by Jacopo Angeli da Scarperia. 6 The work was presented to Pope Alexander V in about 1410 under the title of Cosmographia, and for over fifty years this edition was to exert great influence. The publication of this work led to a sudden great interest in geography in Florence and the surrounding area in the period from 1410~420.27 It can hardly be a coincidence that it was in precisely these years that the geographical works of the Florentine priest Cristoforo Buondelmonti were produced. About Buondelmonti himself little is known. No documents relating to him have been found in the Florentine archives. The family records contain just as little information about this important member of the prominent Florentine family of the Buondelmonti. In later authors of geographical and cartographical works Buondelmonti is not mentioned, so no information can be obtained there. 28 In his time he cannot

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have been a particularly striking figure, for even a relation of his from the sixteenth century, Lorenzo de Buondelmonti (circa 1570) knew practically nothing about his ancestor. Thus Cristoforo's long stay in Greece appears to have been forgotten. 29 Only a few passing references in his writing make it possible to sketch the main lines of his career. Cristoforo seems to have been born in Florence between 1380 and 1390, as the son of Rainerio Buondelmonti. 30 He was attached to a church in Florence as a cleric (in any case a priest, and possibly also a monk); there is no evidence to support Cornaro's claim that he was Archpriest of the Sancta Maria supra Arnum, 31 In about 1414 32 Buondelmonti went to Rhodes, partly with the intention of studying the Greek language and, using Rhodes as a centre, to travel intensively in the region. What his other motives were is not entirely certain; there is a possibility that he entered the service of the Dukes of the Archipelago; 33 but there is no clear evidence of this in his work. Some authors claim that he went to Greece 'ad graeca comparanda volumina' , 34 but according to others this collecting of Greek manuscripts should be regarded only as a sideline.35 All that is certain is that in 1423 he was still- or again- in Rhodes; 36 that is the last date from which anything is known about Buondelmonti. 37 The possibility that he was still alive and witnessed the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 cannot be ruled out, but there is no proof of this. 38 Cristoforo's special interest in Greece may perhaps be partly due to the fact that a branch of his family was living in the area at that time. His aunt, Magdalena Buondelmonti, a daughter of Manente Buondelmonti and Lapa degli Acciajuoli, had come to the Ionian islands on her marriage to the count palatine of Kefalenia and Zakynthos, Leonardo I Tocco, After the death of her husband in about 1381 she continued to rule as regent, dying only in 1401. 39 Through this branch of the family Cristoforo was also related to the bankers' family of Acciajuoli, members of which governed Athens and Thebes from 1387 onward. These relationships with several prominent families in Greece must have stood him in very good stead in his travels. It is not unreasonable to assume that before his stay in Rhodes Cristoforo may already have spent some time with his relations in Zakynthos. 40 Rhodes was the base from which, from 1414 till about 1420 Buondelmonti travelled through the entire area of Greece, His interest was not so much in the mainland, but rather in the islands. He himself describes his mode of travel as

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follows: io hora qua con pirrhati hora con mercanti et hora con grippi et barcheto et altri legni delle Isole et hora innanzi et hora indiretro hora in qua et hora in la secondo che la comodita del navigare che ad me era apparechiato. Per che lo fine del mio navigare solo era per posser investigare la conditione et effecto delle Isole. 41 Only a few definite dates can be established from his account of his travels. At the end of 1414 or in 1415 he was in Crete. In 1417 he again spent 24 days travelling on horseback around that same island, and in 1418 he was in Crete yet again. 42 He visited Imbros and Andros in 1419; 43 with regard to the other islands he visited, and the time he spent in Constantinople, - which was certainly not short - during one or more visits to that city, it is not possible to give a more accurate date than between 1414 and 1420. Buondelmonti is the author of at least three works of a historical and geographical-cartographical nature. The earliest of these, the Descriptio Insulae Cretae, must have appeared round about 1417, and was dedicated to a certain Nicolas, probably Buondelmonti's Florentine friend Niccolo Niccoli, 44 with whom he also kept in touch from the Archipelago. The dedication could be read by putting together the initial letters of the different chapters: C(r)istoforus Presbiter dat Nicolao l(ibrum) CCCCXVII. 45 The same sort of acrostic is found in Buondelmonti's second work, the Liber Insularum Archipelagi, that appeared a few years later (about 1420) and was dedicated to Cardinal Giordano Orsini: 'Cristoforus Bondelmont de Florencia Presbiter nunc misit cardinali Iordano de Ursinis MCCCCXX' is the message hidden in the eighty-two initial letters of the chapters. 46 His third work, entitled 'Nomina Virorum Illustrium' was composed in 1423 in Rhodes, commissioned by Janus, the King of Cyprus. This last work consisted of a list of famous people from the Creation up to the end of the thirteenth century. 47 In the first two works the emphasis is on geography and cartography. They are accounts of his travels, but from the order in which the material is presented it appears that Buondelmonti has summarized the experiences of several different journeys, making them into a literary narrative. The more or less random nature of his travels probably made it necessary to introduce some kind of system into the presentation of the material. The great problem with Buondelmonti's work is the complicated way in which his writings have been passed down. Both the works about Greece exist in several versions, partly revised by the author himself. The original editions of both

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works have unfortunately been lost. The original of the Descriptio Insulae Cretae, dedicated to Niccolo Niccoli dates from 1417, but is only known from later copies. In 1422 a version of this text appeared in Constantinople which had probably been revised by the author in person. 48 Between 1417 and 1422, a short version also appeared of Buondelmonti's description of Crete. The Descriptio has remained relatively little known; few manuscripts exist of either of the versions, long or short, 49 so that this document has remained somewhat hard to come by. Relatively little is known, either, of the Liber Insularum Archipelagi presented to Cardinal Orsini in 1420. This work has not survived in the original; it is no longer to be found in either the library of the prelate Orsini, which is now incorporated into the Vatican library, or in the Buondelmonti family library. 50 The text is preserved in several manuscripts which have not yet been published in full; 51 the shortened version of the book has also survived, in the form in which it was published by Buondelmonti himself in 1422. 52 It would appear that before 1420 Buondelmonti had already sent a summary or a preliminary description of the islands of the Archipelago to Orsini as a gift, 53 but this manuscript has also disappeared without trace. What we do have is an edition of the shortened text dating back to 1428 or 1429, and one from 1430, which differ considerably on various points from the text of 1422; 54 whether Buondelmonti himself was responsible for this edition is not certain. Besides the editions for which the author was mainly responsible there are also a number containing variants which cannot be traced back to Buondelmonti himself. All this makes textual criticism of Buondelmonti's work an exceedingly difficult business. As a regrettable consequence there are no good editions available of Buondelmonti's work. The existing ones all date from the nineteenth century and are based on a collation of only a few of the manuscripts. The text as we have it, both of the Descriptio and of the Liber Insularum Archipelagi, is frequently unclear and probably corrupt. The author's Latin is of a lamentable quality. Both in the construction of the sentences and in verb endings and cases he makes the most remarkable mistakes. 5 5 These mistakes are doubtless partly due to carelessness and lack of expertise on the part of the copyists but some must also be laid at the author's door. Buondelmonti's knowledge of Greek was not very good either. He says himself that he went to Greece with the intention of learning the language; 56 it is possible that

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he had already started studying the language in Florence. Buondelmonti's text indicates, as far as his Greek is concerned, a mainly verbal knowledge of the language, Among the people he found himself with on his travels across the Archipelago and on board ships, sometimes western, sometimes Greek, he developed a good vocabulary, but, just as with his Latin, his knowledge of Greek grammar and syntax is rather superficial. In spite of all these complicating factors the work of Cristoforo Buondelmonti is still of the greatest importance. On the one hand he continues the tradition of the time that preceded him, while on the other hand he begins something entirely new. As a geographer he carries on in the tradition of his predecessors, but at the same time he is the first to apply his attention specifically to the area of Greece, and to draw and publish maps of Crete and the Greek islands. These maps form an integral part of his works, and must be seen in close relation to the text. In the foreword to the Descriptio he explains the meaning of the colours used - black for mountains, white for the plains, green for the water - and in the text there are occasional references to the accompanying map, 57 Moreover, Buondelmonti does not limit his cartographical work to Greek territory only. He also produced maps of Northern Europe and the Baleares, 58 He made a fairly detailed map of Crete, with the mountains, rivers, towns and villages, castles and also ruins marked on it. Accompanying the Liber Insularum Archipelagi was a series of seventy-nine maps of the various islands, and one of Constantinople, which was dealt with separately. Buondelmonti's maps are not, of course, entirely reliable on all points, but before criticising him for this we should bear in mind that he carried out pioneering work, without any basis on which to build. Maps of Greece and the islands did not exist; by comparison with the portolani of the late middle ages Buondelmonti's already achieve a reasonably high degree of accuracy. 59 Just as the text of Buondelmonti's geographical work has been handed down in an extremely complicated way, so too the tradition of his maps causes problems for modern scholars, Because the text and the maps were separated from each other at an early stage, each part took on a life of its own, This meant that the maps were made use of by later geographers, and were added to, corrected, etc. 60 A separate and searching study would be needed to unravel the whole mapmaking tradition and to rediscover the original versions. Such a study is not necessary, however, for our present subject,

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Buondelmonti was the first cartographer to pay special attention to Greece, to visit the region himself and to present the results of his travels in book form. He was not, howeve~ entirely alone in his work; his activities can be seen within a larger context. The idea that it was useful to use 'modern' maps in order to have a better understanding of ancient writers is found as far back as Petrarch, Boccaccio wrote a geographical handbook, De montibus, fluviis etc.; in this there was still no mention of islands, but these were given special attention in the work De Insulis by Domenico Silvestri 61 (late fourteenth century). We should also mention here the influence of the Latin translation of Ptolemy's Geographica. It is only when the work of Cristoforo Buondelmonti is seen against the background of this growing interest in geography that his transitional position between the middle ages and the later period really becomes clear. Buondelmonti's work aroused interest both inside his Florentine circle of relations and beyond it, as is seen from the fact that within a short time it was translated into several languages. Cyriacus of Ancona is known to have carried a copy with him on his wanderings through Greece. The work also formed the basis of later geographical treatises, such as the Insularium Illustratum of Heinrich Martelli (c.1470-80), and the !solaria of the Venetian Bartolomeo da li Sonetti (c. 1477). 62 With regard to the present study Buondelmonti is of importance as a geographer, but even more as a traveller with an exceptional interest in archeology. Ancient monuments were not the main object of his journeys, but whenever the opportunity occurred he gave them a good deal of attention in his work. His greatest interest was not archeological as can be seen from the places he directed his attention to. It was not the mainland that he visited, with cities such as Athens, Thebes, Delphi, Sparta and Olympia, famous from classical literature, but Crete and the islands. Buondelmonti is well aware that Constantinople does not belong in this context; he twice excuses himself for the fact that he nevertheless includes in his work a description of the city on the Bosporus. 63 I believe that this shows just how fascinated Buondelmonti was by the antiquities he saw in Constantinople. Buondelmonti shows no special preference for any particular sort of antiquities. Architectural remains, pieces of sculpture, mosaics, stones bearing inscriptions and small objects such as coins are all mentioned in his Descriptio insulae Cretae, and in the Liber Insularum Archipelagi.

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Buondelmonti's descriptions also contain, inevitably, references to a number of legends, such as were attached to certain relics of the past. 64 His work is particulariy important from this point of view, because it establishes that these traditions existed in Greece at the beginning of the fifteenth century. Cristoforo does not usually say who his informants were, but I believe that they should be sought mainly among the Latin - Italian inhabitants of Greece. He was in regular contact with Venetian government officials in Crete, but also recounts how he exchanged views there with a Greek protopapas (abbot) in Greek and Latin. 65 Buondelmonti was not lacking in critical faculty; in certain cases he expresses definite doubts about what he has been told. He did not believe that the grave he saw in Chios was that of Homer, 66 and in the case of Zeus' grave and the labyrinth on the island of Crete he has some reserves about accepting the local tradition. 67 A number of facts are presented with the addition of 'ut dicitur', and in such cases he refrains from adopting any definite position. Buondelmonti had a reasonable knowledge of ancient literature, in so far as it was available in his time. His emphasis is always, of course, on Latin writers, but Greek texts did not entirely escape his attention. 68 Historical knowledge appears to be his weak point; like all medieval authors, he lacks a knowledge of the historical framework within which the events he mentions took place. Names are, in fact, often known to him, but the relationships between different facts and people are not recognised. Buondelmonti had a wide knowledge of mythology, which is shown for example, in his descriptions of all sorts of statues which he saw. After he has described a figure of Mercury, for example, or Diana, Cybele or Pan, he follows this with a lengthy allegorical explanation of the figure and its attributes. Etymological explanations are found frequently in his works; sometimes he gives extremely ingenious explanations, which are completely correct, while others are totally nonsensical. 6 9· Here too, however, it should be remembered that Buondelmonti lived at the beginning of the fifteenth century, and that the etymological explanations given by the sixteenth century hellenists were not usually any better. In Buondelmonti's work three regions are discussed in detail. First he speaks at length about the island of Crete. The island is described in both the long and the short versions of the Descriptio, but in the Liber Insularum Crete is also

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briefly mentioned. Next he deals in his study with the many inhabited and uninhabited islands of the Archipelago, and finally he devotes a lengthy chapter of that work to a description of ancient monuments in Constantinople. I shall now take a close look at these three regions of Buondelmonti's in this order.

Crete The most important reason for Buondelmonti's wanderings in Crete 70 was to trace and mark on his maps the Hecatonpolis of classical literature, the hundred cities, the existence of which was mentioned by Vergil, among others, following Homer. 71 In Buondelmonti's day the only ones of these that survived were the three large places of Chanea, Rethymnon and Sitia; the capital, Candia, he regarded as an Arab settlement, and therefore did not count it. Altogether he believes he has found traces in the form of ancient remains about 60 places of the Hecatonpolis. In actual fact there were considerably fewer places, since he made the mistake of including several 72 Byzantine and Venetian settlements. Buondelmonti divides the island into three parts: the western part, the northern coast and the central interior. Each of these parts is dealt with separately. His geographical interest is revealed in the way he mentions many mountains, hills, rivers, capes, bays and islands. The interest he shows in nature and in the landscape is something which is comparatively new. In medieval writing natural descriptions are hardly ever found, 73 but Buondelmonti regularly refers to a particular region or valley as 'amoenus' and describes the town of Rethymnon as 'pulcher'. He also points out the healthy aspects of life in the country, where people can regularly be found who remain fit until an extremely advanced age. 7 ~ He describes the scent of the thyme, the presence of all kinds of trees, and plants, the nesting of the birds, and how visitors are greeted by the buzzing of bees. 75 Although in the long version more details are given and there is more opportunity for the author to give his comments, there is actually little difference in content between the long and the short versions. What is most striking, however, in Buondelmonti's description of Crete, is the completely new attitude to ancient remains. Whereas earlier authors hardly said a word about the remains of antiquity, which were scattered about the countryside in a state of decay, Buondelmonti regularly expresses the rather sad feeling that came over him when he came face to face with the greatness of the past. If one looks beyond

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the rather verbose terms in which this is expressed there remains a very real sense of sadness for the decay and the present desolate state of these ruins. 76 The state in which Buondelmonti found many old places was indeed not very inspiring. Mostly the broken pieces remained where they had once fallen, and were overgrown with shrubs and trees, or covered over with cornfields, vineyards, and pastures where cattle grazed. Ancient walls were put to a new use as pigstyes or barns for storing grain; and the ruined cities also ensured a permanent supply of cheap and perfectly usable building material. Nowhere did Buondelmonti find any interest among the inhabitants for any ancient remains found on their land. He describes how his guide showed him a fine piece of mosaic, and told him that most of the rest of it was hidden under a nearby vineyard. The owner of the vineyard refused to allow any further search, because that would have meant him removing some of his vines, and that he flatly refused to do 'quia non nobis talia necesse sunt' . 77 But Buondelmonti was not the only person in Crete who was interested in antiquity. There is an interesting passage in which he describes his visit to a noble lord, Nicolaus by name, who lived on the island. This man owned a country seat near 1\tirina; the house stood in a delightful valley, surrounded by magnificent gardens, and both house and garden were decorated with ancient sculpture. An antique statue served as a fountain; heads of Marc Anthony and Pompey were placed to the left and right, and Buondelmonti found many other pieces of marble which had been brought to Nicolaus' residence from other buildings. In the midst of these ancient remains Nicolaus led a lonely existence (solus sine heredibusl, finding joy in Latin literature and in the works of Dante. 78 Buondelmonti's trip around the island was not entirely without risk. As a strangely-behaved foreigner he was sometimes threatened to some extent by the local people. 79 His wandering around the extensive ruin sites was not without danger either. Buondelmonti describes how at the ancient city of Minoa, near Suda, the ground slid away from under his feet, and it was only by clinging to some bushes that he could prevent himself from falling into an extremely deep cistern. 80 What strikes one, on reading Buondelmonti's account is that although he lists all sorts of antique remains to be found in Crete he does not give a clear description of any of them. Following the usual medieval custom he refers to all large buildings as 'palatium'.

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He saw such ruins in Kissamos, for instance (palatium cum multitudine columnarum), and in Chersonesos and Gortyn. This last building he identified without more ado as the palatium of the legendary King Minos, who was said to have lived in Gortyn. 81 Other large buildings are referred to as 'templum', which in a number of cases was probably correct. The god to whom the temple was dedicated in antique times is, however, never mentioned. Sculpture is dealt with in the same way; statues are usually only specified as 'imagines' or 'bustae'. Only occasionally is there any reference to a 'caput Veneris vel Dianae quod super omnia pulcherrimum videbatur', or to two busts near the basilica of St. Titus in Gortyn which he refers to as 'busta apostolorum•. 82 Mosaics are described as 'cum variis figuris', but what they represented is not made clear. In the case of only two of the inscriptions he discovered does Buondelmonti take any trouble to ascertain the complete, original text; and then he does not entirely succeed in doing so, because of the badly weathered state of the stone. Thus he adds to his transcription of the text at Phenix a note to the effect that it was obtained 'per conjecturas'. 83 Some of the monuments of antiquity, which are also regularly referred to by later authors, are mentioned for the first time in the work of Cristoforo Buondelmonti. In the vicinity of Candia he saw a building that according to local legend, was supposed to be the grave of Caiaphas; Buondelmonti mentions this tradition, but expresses his doubts about its truth by adding 'ut dicitur' . 84 He shows the same hesitation with regard to the grave of Zeus on the slopes of the Jouktas. Although he states that the inscription was obliterated and that there was no evidence for the identification, he nevertheless accepts the tradition 'quia per totam insulam ita provulgatum cognovi' , 85 It is interesting to note a small detail concerning the grave of Zeus which is not in the Descriptio Insulae Cretae, but which Buondelmonti did include in his Liber Insularum Archipelagi. In this book he briefly describes the cave and gives it measurements, and then remarks in a down-to-earth way that 'people thought' that although Zeus was in heaven his body was buried here in Crete. Then he says how he found the place where the grave was: Ptolomaeo demonstrante viam, from which we may conclude that he had a copy of Ptolemy with him on his wanderings. The most interesting passage in Buondelmonti's writings about Crete is his description of the old town of Gortyn and

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the nearby labyrinth, which he also visited. The size of the ruined site suggested that Gortyn had been a large town, comparable in size with Buondelmonti's native Florence, but without a wall around it. 86 Among the town's most striking buildings were the so-called palatium Minois and the Basilica of St. Titus. There were also hundreds of columns on the site, some standing, some lying; marble slabs, pieces of sculpture and graves were everywhere to be seen. From Gortyn Buondelmonti paid a visit to what was then supposed in Crete to be the labyrinth of antiquity. Here he again has doubts as to whether the tradition is correct, and he comes to the conclusion that the old quarry he was shown is not the famous mythological labyrinth of Knossos. He is unable, however, to find a more likely spot on the island, and so, reluctantly, he has to leave the problem unsolved. 87 If anybody should want to use Buondelmonti's Descriptio Insulae Cretae as an archeological handbook he would undoubtedly be disappointed at what it had to offer. Yet this work is a unique document about the island of Crete, precisely because for the first time since classical antiquity somebody has taken the trouble to survey and describe things reminiscent of an earlier phase of culture. Thanks to Buondelmonti's work, however vague and incomplete it may be on some matters, we have a picture of the state of the antiquities on this Greek island as they were at the beginning of the fifteenth century. One is struck by the feeling of sadness for the decay of the earlier culture which the author experiences, something which was unusual for the fifteenth century. Buondelmonti's book is also important for the topography of Crete: there are some places from antiquity of which Buondelmonti found remains but which have now completely disappeared. Buondelmonti's greatest importance, however, lies in his account of a number of traditions then alive in Crete; for some of these he is our sole source. Buondelmonti does not allow himself to be discouraged by the desolate state in which he found the ancient cities, but his writing reflects what particularly interested him, and what h.e hoped would also be followed with interest by his readers, and in particular by his Florentine friend Niccolo Niccoli, for whom it was specially intended.

Liber Insularum Archipelagi Although this title refers only to the islands of the

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Archipelago in the Aegean Sea, the contents of Buondelmonti's work in fact cover a wider field. The Ionian islands to the west of Greece are also dealt with, and further chapters are devoted to the peninsulas of Chalcidice (with the Athos) and Gallipoli, and to the cities of Constantinople and Pera. In all, seventy-five islands or groups of islands are described. Some of these are large, densely-populated and prosperous islands, while some are bare, uninhabited reefs rising out of the sea. There may be some doubt as to whether Buondelmonti actually saw for himself all the islands he describes. Some of them he describes very fully, apparently at first hand, but there are some others about which he has hardly anything to say; probably he mentioned the latter only for the sake of completeness. He attempts to provide an etymological explanation of the names of many of the islands, and sometimes does so with amazing success. Because of the great differences between the various islands Buondelmonti's work is extremely varied in content. At one point he speaks of the arduous existence led by monks, after visiting a small group of monks living in solitude on a rocky peak; on another occasion he is struck by the unfathomable depth of the harbour of Santorini. 88 The beauty of the landscapes he saw during his travels attracts him strongly just as it did in Crete: he speaks of the rich vegetation of Rhodes, with its plants and trees, or the beautiful scenery of Cos, where the song of innumerable birds would delight even the gods. 8 9· But in the Liber Insularum Archipelagi his interest is again particularly attracted to the memorials of antiquity. Ancient monuments and objects, together with legends both ancient and medieval, occupy a large part of the work. Crete, Rhodes and Cos receive the most detailed descriptions. The chapter on Crete is actually nothing more than a summary of Buondelmonti's work about the island which had appeared in 1417, and to which he refers the reader for further particulars. 90 He says that in Crete the remains of about sixty ancient cities were still to be seen, and mentions briefly the grave of Zeus, the ruins of the temple at Hierapolis, the mosaic at Matalia and the extensive ruins of Gortyn, with the nearby Labyrinth. Nothing is found in the Liber Insularum Archipelagi of the critical attitude and the doubts about what he had been told which appeared from time to time in the Descriptio: Buondelmonti merely lists, without comment, the places on the island which he considered important.

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He devotes more attention to Rhodes, the cosmopolitan harbour town and the base from which for many years he set out on his travels. 91 The tradition of the Colossus is recounted at length, as is the idea, connected with it, that Paul's Epistle to the Colossians was intended for the Rhodians. He is struck by how small medieval Rhodes is (the city of the Knights of the Order of St. John) in comparison with the ancient city, the remains of which were still everywhere to be seen. In Lindus he visits the Acropolis and mentions a special rite in which Hercules was venerated there, at a shrine. Architectural remains in the middle of the island make him conjecture that Rhodes was formerly divided across the middle by a wall. It is not clear what it was that Buondelmonti saw here; there is no further evidence for this idea. During his walks on the island he regularly came across 'coins bearing the portrait of Caesar'. I imagine that this refers to Roman coins from the imperial period, although the local coins of Rhodes from the period of the island's autonomy (323-43 B.C.) also more or less answer to the description. For a non-numismatist a radiate head of Helios differs very little from an emperor's head! Coins were not all that was regularly found in Rhodes; Buondelmonti tells how 'not long ago', so probably during his stay over five hundred statues of all sorts were discovered in an enclosed space. It seems to me very likely that what was discovered was a store-room used for terracotta statues, perhaps belonging to a temple. Cos receives special attention because of the quantity of marble statues and theatres which Buondelmonti still found there, 92 Moreover, the island enjoyed a certain fame on account of the house of Hippocrates, outside the ancient city. Buondelmonti visited this place, and judging from his description this house must then still have been in a fairly good state, After explaining who Hippocrates was, Buondelmonti recounts a traditional story which he must have heard on the island, the story of Hippocrates' daughter, who was changed into a snake. In the form in which Buondelmonti gives it the legend is quite incomprehensible; but if one compares his story with the more complete version as recounted by Mandeville and by Niccolo da Martoni, it appears that all three authors based their stories on the same tradition. 93 By contrast with the Descriptio of Crete, in the Liber Insularum the emphasis is not so much on architecture and ruined cities, although on various islands ruins and architectural remains are mentioned.Buondelmonti does not refer to

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palatia, but he does speak of old temples, such as the Temple of Apollo of Nicopolis-Actium (c.3), the temple in Cythera where Helen was said to have been abducted, (c.9.) the shrine of Hercules at Lindus (c.l3), a temple of Apollo on Naxos (c.37) and a temple of Juno on Samos (c.54). Deviating from his method in the Descriptio Buondelmonti now often manages, by relating the ruins to his knowledge of classical literature, to identify the god to which a particular temple was dedicated, The only divinity he does not name is that of the temple on Paras (c.34). One building that did not date back to antiquity nevertheless attracts his special attention: the monastery of Nea Moni, on Chios (c.58). He praises the 'mira structura' of the church, but declines to go into the subject any further, as he does not consider himself adequate to the task. He has not lost his critical turn of mind in the Liber Insularum; he accepts without scruple the tradition about Hippocrates' house in Cos, but when on Chios he is shown the grave of Homer his doubts are aroused. In spite of all his searching he is unable to discover the truth of this identification; he therefore decides to leave the question to later generations (ideo posteris ad inquirendum dimittamus). 94 Sculpture receives more attention in the Liber Insularum Archipelagi than in the Descriptio. On different islands Buondelmonti saw innumerable statues, large and small; a few of these are described in detail. On Cythera (c.9) he saw a group consisting of Venus and the three Graces, and on Melos, (c.23} a figure of Cybele. On Siphnos (c.24) there was a statue of Pan, while on nearby Seriphos (c.25} his attention was taken by a statue of Apollo. In the chapter about Andros (c.28) he describes a statue of Mercury, on Samos a statue of Juno (c.54) and on Naxos, an island famous for its wine, a statue of Bacchus, the god of wine which still survived (c,37). After describing the god in question and his attributes he always adds a lengthy allegorical interpretation in which he explains all the details. His good knowledge of mythology was certainly a great help to him here. Even if his interpretations are extremely far-fetched and without any real foundation Buondelmonti's descriptions give a good picture of how people regarded antique sculpture in the fifteenth century, and what they believed its original meaning to have been. Besides these free-standing statues, Buondelmonti also mentions a relief carved in the rocks near Corfu, showing the ship of Odysseus. 95 He also considers the remarkable pieces of marble in the form of animal heads he saw on Rhodes worth. mentioning.

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As well as paying interested visits to ancient remains Cristoforo also tried his hand at restoring monuments! On Delos his attention was particularly attracted by an unusually large marble statue lying on the ground amid many other remains near the old temple. 96 An attempt to set this enormous colossus upright again was not successful. A thousand men were not able to do the job, even with the use of tackle and hoisting apparatus from the ships. In the end they were forced to abandon the attempt without achieving their aim. Two traditions about events which are supposed to have taken place not long before Buondelmonti's visit are worth our attention. On the peninsula of Gallipoli Buondelmonti noted down the story of the farmer who found a treasure of coins as he was ploughing. 97 When he took them to the ruler of the region, Murad I (1362-89) the latter had them carefully examined by his learned courtiers. Because they could not establish whose portrait it was on the coins the sultan made no claim on the treasure, and the coins were returned to the man who found them. In a short study 98 I have already attempted to show that the contents of this treasure consisted most probably of either Roman aurei or Byzantine solidi. 99 In connection with this story I would like to point out that Buondelmonti is one of the authors who portray Sultan Murad as a good and just ruler; this sultan is traditionally known, however, as a cruel tyrant. 100 Buondelmonti's favourable judgment of Murad fits in well, moreover, with his opinion of the Turks; here, too, he shows admiration and appreciation. In the second story, which must be situated somewhere in the vicinity of Nicomedia, a ploughing farmer is again the main character (c. 64). In a coffin h.e found the remains of a ruler complete with crown, sceptre and sword. When attempts were made to remove the body from the coffin, however, it crumbled to dust. It is difficult to assess the truth of this traditional story. It is doubtful whether the grave was really that of a king; yet it is by no means impossible that in the vicinity of the old imperial residence of Nicomedia there should be rich graves of prominent people. Just as the Descriptio of Crete gives a good impression of what was still to be seen on that island at the beginning of the fifteenth century, so reading the Liber Insularum Archipelagi gives one some idea of what still remained on the various islands of Greece in the way of ancient remains and old traditions. In many cases one would have been glad of more details, but here too, it is true to say that Buondel-

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monti was the first to show any interest in the archeological aspects of these islands. Constantinople Although Buondelmonti does not say so himself, it is probable that during his travels he set foot in Constantinople several times. This city was the centre of shipping traffic in Greek territory. Because there were no direct connections between many of the places, it was often necessary to travel via this central point at which all the various means of transport came together. Towards the end of the Liber Insularum Archipelagi Buondelmonti devotes a very detailed chapter to the city of Constantinople. After explaining the name of the city he names the two emperors who had done the most for it: its founder, Constantine, and the lawgiver and builder, Justinian I. To the latter are attributed the construction of the Hagia Sophia, the imperial palace and the Hippodrome. The triangular ground plan of the city and its strong surrounding walls are also mentioned at the beginning of the description. In describing Constantinople Buondelmonti is often extremely precise: he gives the dimensions of some of the buildings, and these measurements often tally closely with the facts. Buondelmonti pays relatively little attention to the churches, palaces and other large buildings in the city. He gives a number of the measurements of the Hagia Sophia, emphasizing particularly the great height of the dome and the depth of the cistern underneath the building. He also says that only the square base of the dome was still standing; all the other parts which were formerly built on to it had now collapsed and disappeared. He does not, however, give a description of the inside of the church; the reason he gives is that he would not know where to begin! 101 He found the Church of the Hagii Apostoli, with the graves of many of the emperors, in a state of ruin, and in connection with the church near the palace, which he calls Enea, 102 he mentions only the mosaics on the walls and the complicated, decorative patterns of the marble floor. The famous Mese, the pillar-lined street between the Hagia Sophia and the old imperial palace, must still have been more or less intact in Buondelmonti's time, but to this unique piece of architecture he devotes only one short sentence. He is much more interested in the innumerable cisterns he saw in the city. He lists them, emphasizing the enormous size of these constructions. What interested him most of all,

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however, were the great columns and obelisks he saw in various places in the city. First of all he mentions the statue of Justinian on the Augusteion; then he describes the obelisk of Theodosius, even quoting the inscription on the pedestal, After referring to a second pillar in the Hippodrome, a brick obelisk dating from the fourth century, he goes on to speak of the presence in the city of five columns which were each more than sixty ells high, The first is the column, already referred to, of the Augusteion; the second is the column of the Cross, a porphyry pillar erected by Constantine on the Forum he himself founded, and which had been surrounded in late antiquity by four bronze horses. Buondelmonti says that the Venetians had removed these to San Marco in Venice. The columns on which these horses had originally stood were still to be seen in Buondelmonti's time, round the main pillar. The third and fourth columns were in the middle of the city; these, the column of Arcadius on the hill of Xerolophos and that of Theodosius on the Forum Tauri, had the deeds of these emperors depicted on them. The fifth pillar, finally, had a group of bronze figures on top of it, consisting of an angel with a kneeling figure which Buondelmonti says is Constantine. This one was situated near the Church of the Hagii Apostoli. 103 There is a most remarkable passage about the statue of Justinian which is only found in a few of the manuscripts of Buondelmonti's work. 104 After he has described it he adds the following sentence: 'usque in hodiernum fuit opinio ut esset Justinianus, sed capto ordine ascendendi ad verticem ipsius columnae visum est scriptum in ipso homine et equo eneo esse Theodosium.' From this one can only conclude that in Buondelmonti's day somebody had climbed the column, perhaps on the orders of the Emperor, and there found the name of Theodosius inscribed on the statue. Weiss believes that this passage goes back to Buondelmonti himself; 105 this is not impossible, but I do not wish to exclude the possibility of it having been inserted later, 106 The Hippodrome, which he reckons to be about 690 ells long and 124 wide, then still contained another monument which always caught the interest of visitors. In the middle of the race course where, instead of chariot racing, horse racing, duels and tournaments were now held, was the threeheaded serpentine column. In this connection Buondelmonti noted the tradition that during the games water, wine and milk flowed from these heads. This information probably struck him as somewhat unlikely, as he adds to it the already

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familiar 'ut dicitur'. The same 'ut dicitur' accompanies the tradition connected with the bones of 50,000 massacred Franks in the vicinity of the Bucoleon complex. The bones were shown to him; but the story of the bloodbath carried out by the Greeks apparently struck him as incredible. At the end of his description Buondelmonti gives his opinion of the general appearance of the city. He, too, has seen the many open spaces inside the walls, where people now cultivated vineyards and vegetables. His impression was that the city was sparsely populated; moreover the Greeks gave him the impression of being highly unreliable. In his opinion the city must formerly have been magnificent, a source of wisdom and culture; but the Constantinople of his time was in a state of great decay. Pera, on the other side of the Golden Horn, formed a sharp contrast to this; under the Genoese it was then enjoying a period of great prosperity and well-being. Buondelmonti's description of Constantinople agrees in the main with the view of the city given by his contemporaries. Here and there the emphasis is different, but in general they are much the same. His own contribution is that he concentrates more on the ancient monuments than other people do, and not on churches and monasteries full of relics; these are subjects he hardly mentions at all. The skill and methodical approach of the geographer-cartographer led him to measure buildings and sometimes to make an exact note of them in his writing. Like many other visitors to the city he was told traditional stories connected with certain places and monuments. He did not put much faith in the truth of these stories; he finds it much easier to believe the man who climbed the column of Justinian and found the name of an emperor written there, than the word of any number of people who called themselves guides .. Buondelmonti's most important contribution of all, however, is his map of Constantinople. He was the first person ever to draw a map of that city, and to mark the ancient monuments on it. His example was to be followed in later centuries by innumerable others. 3, Arab geographers

In Western Europe in the middle ages geography was chiefly a theoretical science; in the Arab world of the same period this was by no means the case, for among the Moslems the traveller and the geographer were frequently one and the same person. For an Arab geography was more than a mere list-

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ing of distances and routes; the climate, the scenery, and the way of life of the inhabitants were usually also included in the description. 107 The basis of Arabic geography was the work of Ptolemy, which had been translated as early as the ninth century; in western Europe the work itself was only rediscovered at a late date, and before that people simply made do with excerpts from it in the work of Latin authors; the Arabs constantly put into practice Ptolemy's data and corrected it in accordance with their own findings. The religious and cultural unity of the Moslem countries made travel in that area a comparatively pleasant undertaking. The duty of making pilgrimages to Mecca, and to a lesser extent the attraction of other holy places, meant that within Moslem territory travelling took place on a large scale. The congregation in one place of people from many different regions led to a lively exchange of observations and ideas. As a result, people were often well-informed even about rather inaccessible places. 108 Apart from the religious aspect of travelling, trade also encouraged people to travel to distant places. Along the great caravan routes to central Asia there was a constant stream of trade caravans in both directions, and to these travellers could easily attach themselves. There were all sorts of facilities available to people on their travels: at regular distances there were caravanserais and stopping places where people could rest or change mounts. Moreover, the Moslem area was much safer than Europe; in the Arab world pilgrims were inviolable - a state of affairs never achieved in Europe. There were also good maps available, on which were marked all sorts of details about particular routes and regions. 109 The political unity of the Islamic area did, it is true, disintegrate after about 1000; after this the emergence of many small kingdoms made travel rather more difficult, but in spite of this it still remained possible to undertake long journeys. Arabs continued to wander between Morocco and China and from the Balkans to the Indonesian Archipelago. Where countries outside Moslem territories are concerned, however, the reports of Arab geographers are considerably less reliable. In such cases most of their information is drawn from those literary sources that were available to them. One of the problems one encounters in studying Arab geographical works is the large scale plagiarism found in them. 110 Writers would take over whole passages from the work of a predecessor, sometimes mentioning their source, but more often not, and include them in their own work. One

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often comes across a passage which is based upon autopsy, but its whole context has been industriously copied from elsewhere.111 An illustration of this may be found in the work of Aboulfeda, a geographer from Damascus (1273-1331), who in the middle of his description of Constantinople suddenly refers 112 to 'somebody who had visited the city, and who said that ... ' It is clear that where Greece is concerned most of the data of Arab geographers is not based on personal observation. Constantinople is exceptional in this respect, probably because trade also brought many Arabs to that city. Information about Athens, the Peloponnesus and the Archipelago, however, indicate copying from old literary sources. Athens as the former centre of philosophy, found in the work of Ibn Hauqal, Aboulfeda and in the Hudud al-Alam, 113 can probably be accounted for in this way. The same is true of most of what is said about Greece in the work of the famous Arab geographer Idrisi (c.1100-1166), who worked for a long time at the court of Roger II of Sicily; there in about 1154 he recorded all the facts then known about the world on a silver map of the world in the form of a globe. 114 His description of Athens as a densely populated city, surrounded by gardens and fertile estates bears no relationship whatsoever to the real state of affairs at the time. The same may be said of his description of Sparta as a flourishing and important city; reservaiions are perhaps also called for with respect to the existence of various prosperous cities on Crete. His statement that mastic is grown on Samos is incorrect; Idrisi confused this island with Chios. 115 Descriptions of striking geographical landmarks, such as the wall across the Isthmus and the position of Monemvasia undoubtedly go back to reports by eye-witnesses, but not necessarily by Idrisi himself. His accurate description of Constantinople and of Ephesus, which was then in a state of complete decay, suggest that Idrisi did visit this region himself. 116 His detailed description of the many bronze statues in the Hippodrome deserves particular attention. The Arab authors have little of importance to say about Greece. In actual fact it was only the capital of the Byzantine empire that attracted the attention of Arab travellers and geographers. The fact that many of their reports about Constantinople have never been translated and are therefore not accessible to me, is probably no great loss, in view of the fact that they are almost all very much alike, due to the plagiarism mentioned above. The contents of a few works which have been translated are probably sufficiently representative of

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them all. 117 The most detailed Arab account is that of the world traveller Ibn Battuta. As a geographer he is unimportant; I shall regard him, rather, as one of the few medieval tourists. His description of the city on the Bosporus is based largely on his own observations. 118 Ibn Battuta's work will be considered in more detail in my chapter on 'tourists'. As an example of an Arab geographical account of Constantinople I have chosen the mid-fifteenth century work of the geographer Ibn al-Wardi. 119 His description is comparatively detailed, and one may rest assured that the greater part of what he has noted is also to be found in the work of other Arab writers. Although al-Wardi saw nothing, or hardly anything, for himself, his work is important because it sums up the ideas about Constantinople that were held in the Arab world. The strong walls and gates of the city receive special attention. The old imperial palace is mentioned briefly, but then al-Wardi immediately goes on to the Hippodrome, situated next to it, with its statues of people and animals. Then follows a short description of various large columns and obelisks, which are referred to as 'towers'. The statue of Justinian on horseback was attributed to Emperor Constantine who was said to be buried at the foot of the column. Al-Wardi makes the interesting remark that this column was so high that the figure of the horseman was visible from a great distance, both on land and sea. The aqueduct of Valens is described as a bridge; its great size made it rank among the wonders of the world, according to al-Wardi. He concludes by remarking that there were so many statues to see in the city that it would be impossible to describe them. The descriptions of the Arab geographical writers offer nothing in the way of new material. In the main their observations agree with what is already known from western and Byzantine sources. One can, however, detect differences of emphasis. The difference in religion leads to a completely different approach to churches and relics, to which the Arabs paid no attention. No special thought was given, either, by people who had grown up in a world in which people and animals were not portrayed, to the many statues and reliefs. They were only struck by the amazing sight of the Hippodrome, and the colossal statue of Justinian attracted all eyes to it. In this, and in their admiration for the immense walls and the city's many very high columns, accounts from East and West again run along very similar lines. The great difference with the West, however, is that the

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Arab geographers produced their work at a time when in Europe there was still no question of travel. Idrisi lived in the twelfth century, Ibn Hauqal in the tenth; in content their writings are comparable to those of later western authors, but at the time at which they were written nothing of the sort existed in the West. These Arab works did not influence western geographers. The two cultures were too far apart, and the language formed an almost insuperable barrier; because of this, western science was never able to derive any benefit from the discoveries made by Arab scholars. Not until the occupation of large areas of Arab territory in the nineteenth century did people in western Europe find out what knowledge and wisdom had already lain hidden there for centuries.

VIII. SCHOLARS AND STUDENTS studies at a Greek university In the fourteen-thirties Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini expressed the opinion that nobody could consider himself educated unless he had spent some time studying in Constantinople.1 This statement by a man who was deeply interested in humanist activities is easy to understand; Constantinople was the only place in the world where a rich collection of manuscripts containing classical texts was available. Yet his attitude is, for his time, a new· one; for many centuries Greek studies had been a most unusual activity for western Europeans. It was not until the last years of the fourteenth century, that interest in Hellas was reborn, an interest which was closely related to the growth of humanism in northern Italy. From the s·econd century B.C. onwards the study of Greek language and culture formed a part of the normal living pattern of the upper classes of Roman society. This may be seen from the many Greek teachers who went to Italy; but soon many Romans also went to be educated in Greece. Cicero, for example, spent some time in Athens, where the greatest number of schools of philosophy, and the most famous ones, were to be found, and also in Rhodes. 2 Famous Church Fathers, too, such as Hieronymus and Hilarius, also spent a long time $tudying in the eastern part of the Roman empire. As a result of the split in the empire Greek influence on the West declined sharply, and by the early middle ages knowledge of Greek had practically died out in western Europe. Outside Byzantium the only population group still using Greek was to be found in southern Italy and Sicily; these immigrants were few in number, however, and were too isolated to exercise any influence outside Italy. 3 The rise of Christianity meant the end of the ancient schools of philosophy. These remains of pagan Greek culture closed down one after the other in rapid succession; the last to go was the neoplatonic Academy in Athens, which was closed in 529 on the orders of Justinian I. The teachers left Athens, and spread all over the Greek archipelago. From now on all scholarship was to be based upon Christianity, and taught at Christian teaching establishments. Constantinople became the cultural centre of the empire. After a period of decay, the 'University of Constantinople'

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was re-opened in about 860 under Photius. In the Magnaura Palace geometry, astronomy and philology were henceforth to be taught by three paid professors. 4 From that time onward scholarship was always to occupy an important position in Constantinople; under the Palaeologians it was to flourish greatly. However, very few, if any, of the students, were westerners. In the period up to the twelfth century no facts are known for certain about west Europeans going to study in Byzantine Greece; in the twelfth century only a few names are known. In the past some scholars believed that the ninth-century Irishman, John Scotus Eriugena (810877), who was renowned for his great learning, spent some years studying in Athens. 5 Cappuyns, however, has shown that the Johannes who studied in Athens was not John Scotus. The mistake arose because of an incorrect interpretation of a passage by Roger Bacon on the pseudo-Aristotelian Secreta secretorum. 6 In fact the reference is to the Spanish-Arab reviser of the Secreta, Yuhanna Ibn-el-Batrik (d.815). His claim that he had visited all the places where the philosophers had taught should be read metaphorically, and not as a reference to actual travels to distant places. The authenticity of the journeys to Asia Minor of a number of Englishmen under King Edward the Confessor, with the purpose of finding out more about the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, must also be considered doubtful (circa 1056). 7 Not until the twelfth century do we find the first accounts of people going to study in Greece, John of Salisbury ( mid twelfth century} spent some time in Apulia and Calabria (Santa Severina) to learn Greek, perhaps under the guidance of Henricus Aristippus. 8 The maxim of Adelard of Bath (died after 1142) 9 was to find things out for himself, and not merely to accept what others had said or written. For this reason this English scholar travelled a great deal: in southern Italy he studied Greek philosophy, especially Platonism; he visited Cilicia and Syria in order to learn the Greek language, and in Spain he busied himself with Arab learning, 10 The journeys to southern Italian and Byzantine territory undertaken by monks from the monastery of St. Denis near Paris, or on their behalf, should also be classed as journeys for study purposes. In the second half of the twelfth century there was a great interest, in that monastery, in the Greek liturgy, and thus also in the Greek language; one of the results of this was that people were sent to look for Greek manuscripts - something quite unique in Europe right up to

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the end of the fourteenth century. 11 In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries St. Denis stood entirely alone in western Europe; it was the only place where the Greek language and liturgy continued to be intensively studied. Although the exact year is not known, it was in any case before 1166 that Johannes Saracenus travelled to Greece on behalf of the monks, to collect manuscripts there. In about 1167 he was followed by one of the monks from the monastery, the Provenyal doctor Wilhelmus le Mire, who, after travelling around Greece and paying a visit to Constantinople, returned to Paris towards the end of 1167 with several codices he had managed to obtain. 12 All that is known of these two is that they made the journey: no details at all are known of what happened on the way. The same may be said about the journey to Greece of David of Dinant. This mysterious figure, who was condemned as a heretic at a provincial council in Paris in 1210, on account of pantheistic ideas, was a great expert on Aristotle. Little of his work has survived, as most of his writings were burnt after he had been condemned. In some twelfth to thirteenth century fragments which may be attributed to him 13 one is struck by the sentence 'cum essem in Grecia pervenit ad manus meas liber Aristotelicus'. From this we may conclude that David either studied in the Greek part of southern Italy, or else in the Byzantine empire, 14 and that he worked from original texts of Aristotle. I agree with Setton in considering it extremely doubtful whether the late twelfth-century Parisian doctor, Johannes Aegidius, ever did study in Athens. 15 More important than any of these people, however, is John of Basingstoke, archdeacon of Leicester. 16 After studying in Oxford and Paris, this Greek and Latin scholar, the translator of the Donatus Graecus, is believed to have continued to extend his knowledge in Athens. 17 The name Athenae was etymologically related by him to a-3a~LOG and in this he believed he saw an indication of the eternal nature of scholarship in that city. 18 The details of John of Basingstoke's stay in Athens are known to us from the Chronica Maiora by Matthew Paris, who recounts how in Athens John was a pupil of a certain Constantina, the daughter of the archbishop.19 Whether Constantina ever existed, and if so, who she can have been, is a question that has occupied many scholars. The great problem is that the visit of John of Basingstoke to Athens cannot be dated exactly; it could have been either before or after the Frankish conquest of 1204. I believe a date before 1204 to be preferred as a stay in

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Athens would have been less likely during the period of Latin domination. If there was any scholarship at all in Athens at that time it was Latin and western scholarship; and for this there would be no reason to travel to Athens! It is by no means out of the question that there should have been a very learned woman in Athens in the twelfth century. It was not unusual for the daughters of prominent Byzantine families to receive good schooling; the best-known example is that of the highly educated Byzantine princess, Anna Comnena. A more difficult problem is that Constantina is referred to as the daughter of the archbishop, From 1182 until after the conquest of Athens by the Franks, the scholar Michael Choniates was metropolitan bishop of the city. 20 In one of his many letters he states emphatically that he had no children. 21 His predecessors who include the well-educated Georgius Bourtzes, 22 can hardly be considered as possibilities for chronological reasons: John died in 1252. Michael did not have an immediate Greek successor, for two years after going into exile in 1204 he was succeeded by a Latin archbishop, Berardus. 23 The latter, however, did not usually live in Athens, but in the more important city of Thebes. Perhaps the best solution to the problem of Constantina's descent is to assume that a connection was seen between the scholarship of Michael Choniates and the knowledge of Constantina, and that it was thus believed that there was a father-daughter relationship between them. 2 1t One may wonder what John's curriculum consisted of in Athens. Mathew Paris says of Constantina that she 'omnem trivii et quadrivii noverat difficultatem' . 25 These terms, though quite normal in western learning, tell us little. It is not poss·ible to discover in how far this knowledge differed from what was taught at the universities· of Oxford and Paris. However, separate mention is made of Constantina's talents in quite a different field: she was able to forecast with great accuracy earthquakes, plague epidemics, thunder and lightning and eclipses of the sun and moon. 26 In this field there seems to have been an old and widespread tradition in the Byzantine empire. Several centuries earlier Liudprand of Cremona already refers to a sort of Sybilline books in which predictions about all sorts of future events were written. 27 In Greece John of Basingstoke also learned about a system of numbers unknown in western Europe; in this system the numbers are shown by letters (the Greek system); moreover, each number could be shown by a single letter (non-Greek). 28

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He introduced this new discovery into western Europe, but it did not really catch on, and was never a success. All the information that survives about John of Basingstoke's activities in the Byzantine area point mainly in a literaryphilological direction. No trace is found there of the impression made on him by the remains of antiquity. This is all the more surprising in view of the fact that it was just such a man as Michael Choniates who quite deliberately drew the attention of the Athenians of his time to the glories of classical culture as manifested in the ancient monuments. 29 From this we can only conclude that John of Basingstoke was not interested in such non-philological matters, for on his return to western Europe he hardly mentioned them, With the conquest of 1204 and the founding of the Latin states much of the attraction of studying in Greece was lost. In the newly formed states scholarship followed the Latin pattern, and Greek attainments faded into the background; Latin learning and culture were, in fact, considered superior to Byzantine Greek. As early as 1205 Emperor Baldwin formed the plan of founding a school in Constantinople for the advancement of Latin learning. At his wish Pope Innocent III sent a request on May 25 of that year to all archbishops, bishops and prelates in France to send clergy to Greece, equipped with breviaries and missals to establish the Catholic faith there. 30 He also exhorted the magistri and scholares in Paris to go out to Greece in order to reform the study of literature there. 31 In spite of the information that the country was rich and prosperous, and furthermore, that the reward awaiting them was that of eternal life, hardly anybody responded to th.e appeal, and the plan was never put into effect. Shortly after 1204 a College de Constantinople was set up at the University of Paris. Its purpose was to make young Greeks acquainted with the French language and culture, and so to bring about reconciliation between the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Church. This venture was not a success, as is best illustrated by the scarcity of information about this college, which apparently continued to exist up to the fifteenth century. 32 Even after the re-conquest of Constantinople in 1261 the School in that city still hardly attracted any scholars or students from the West, although many Greeks there were involved in work on several different branches of learning. 33 The rather unfavourable picture of the Palaeologian empire that existed in the West, and the continued disputes about

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the differences in religion between East and West led to such a degree of separation that it was hardly possible for the Byzantine - Greek area to exert any influence at all on western learning. If scholars in western Europe did from time to time show any interest in the Greek language and culture, it was to the Greek territory in southern Italy and Sicily (especially Palermo) that people went to acquire knowledge or from where they attracted Greek speaking teachers. For Roger Bacon, for example, who studied Greek intensively in England in the thirteenth century, 34 southern Italy was the best place to go for the study of Greek, because he believed that the population there still spoke it as a living language and they could be considered as real Greeks. 35 The whole of his Opus Maius III is a plea for the study of Greek, Hebrew and Arabic, He considered this knowledge necessary, not only for Bible exegesis and the interpretation of texts, but also for missionary activities and for trade contacts. 36 In the fourteenth century, and even in the fifteenth, Southern Italy and Sicily continued to be the most important places for the study of Greek. From the end of the fourteenth century, however, both Constantinople and the Latin regions of Greece came to attract the interest of west-European scholars to an increasing extent. The Italian geographercartographer Cristoforo Buondelmonti spent several years on Rhodes at the beginning of the fifteenth century (1414-20), using it as a base for his geographical reconnaissance trips. In Crete, too, which was under Venetian rule, western scholars were engaged on the study of Greek manuscripts. 37 The extent of their activities was limited, however, and they may be seen more as the exception than the rule. The growing interest in studying in Constantinople began in the West shortly before 1400. Jacopo Angeli da Scarperia is regarded as the first Italian humanist to travel to Constantinople to study Greek. This scholar, who came from near Florence, did not allow himself to be put off by the fact that the city was beleaguered by the Turks and could only be reached by water; in 1395 he set off for Constantinople to learn Greek from Manuel Chrysoloras and Demetrius Cydones. In the following year he returned to Florence, together with his two teachers. 38 He had already acquired a certain fundamental knowledge in Italy, with Giovanni Malpaghini; the difference between the teacher and the pupil, however, was that whereas Malpaghini had acquired his slight knowledge in the south of Italy, in about 1370, his pupil chose the place where the Greek language was best taught at that time (1395). 39

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Jacopo's example was followed (Aurispa, Guarino, Fiielfo) and thus Constantinople, with the little that still remained of the Palaeologian empire, came more and more to the notice of western scholars. 40 This would explain the statement by Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini. We are not concerned here with large numbers of people, however, but with single individuals. It was hoped that manuscripts would be found in Constantinople, and the search was indeed regularly crowned with success. The purpose of this activity was purely philological; the antiquities which people hardly paid any attention to in their own region were not regarded as anything special in Greek territory, either. With the exception of Cyriacus of Ancona, there is no mention of travellers or scholars who undertook a long journey for the express purpose of visiting the antiquities of Greece earlier than 1453. The conclusion that can be drawn from the above outline is necessarily an entirely negative one as far as the Greek monuments are concerned: journeys to the Greek-Byzantine area for the purposes of study are almost non-existent in the middle ages. Moreover, from the few sources available it is clear that when a western scholar does find himself on Greek soil for one reason or another, his interest is purely philological and literary, and that the material remains of the ancient culture are left out of his consideration. Until about 1400 Greece received hardly any special attention from scholars. It was only under the influence of the Renaissance, especially in Italy, that the cultural importance of Byzantine Greece came to be recognized. But by then the Palaeologian empire was involved in a serious political crisis. The fall of Constantinople into Turkish hands meant the beginning of the isolation of Greece, which was to last for centuries. The Greek scholars who took refuge in western Europe, taking with them numerous manuscripts, were received there with great joy: 41 Greek studies could continue, even if the mother country was long to remain inaccessible.

IX. TOURISTS In the middle ages only very few long trips were made for the sake of scientific interest and for the actual pleasure of travelling. In the case of only two of the travellers dealt with in this book it is clear that they embarked on their journeys for these reasons. These are the Arabs Harawi and Ibn Battuta. In the second half of the twelfth century Aboul Hassan Aly ibn Abou Bakr al-Harawi 1 wandered through many countries in the Near East, southern Europe and North Africa. He came from Mosul (Irak) and after his travels he retired to Haleb (Aleppo) where he died in 1215. Among the Moslems Harawi was very well known as a world traveller. It was his custom to write his name all over the place; contemporaries report that this name was to be found on walls in many places. 2 During his travels he visited the Byzantine empire, where he was given a friendly reception at the court by Emperor Manuel I (1143-80). No exact date can be given for Harawi's stay in Constantinople; my preference is for the period between 1160 and 1175, on the grounds of the author's age (he died in 1215) and of the fact that notes about the Hagia Sophia were lost shortly after 1175· 3 Harawi planned to devote a lengthy work to the ancient buildings, monuments and wonders that he had seen on his travels. The sights of Constantinople must also have been included among these. But this work entitled 'Book of the wonders, the ancient monuments and the talismans', has been lost without trace. Many of Harawi's notes were lost while he was still on his travels. We know that shortly after 1175 many of his notes, including those on the Hagia Sophia, disappeared beneath the waves when he was shipwrecked off Trapani in Sicily. 4 On June 23 1192 some other works fell into the hands of the Crusaders under Richard Coeur de Lion, who attacked the caravan in which Harawi was travelling from Cairo to Damascus. 5 What has survived is a short work entitled in translation: Le Livre des indications relatives a la connaissance des lieux qui doivent etre visites en pelerinage. In this pilgrims' guide book Harawi also devotes a few paragraphs to monuments in Constantinople. He speaks of the size of the city, and the many monuments, the like of which were not to be found in the whole of Islam. The colossal columns particularly attracted

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his attention; he describes the column with the statue of Justinian I in detail. For further details about the Hagia Sophia, the palaces, the Golden Gate, marble and bronze statues, including those of the Hippodrome, the columns with reliefs and all sorts of legends he constantly refers the reader to his lost Livre des merveilles. Another part of Harawi's description of monuments in Constantinople has survived because it came to be included in 'Les monuments des pays et l'histoire des serviteurs (de Dieu)', by the Persian geographer Zakarija ben Muhammed ben Machmud al-Kazwini. 6 In this there is mention of a Pharos in the Hippodrome, and a clock with a different figure coming out of it at every hour. The Pharos would appear to refer to one of the two obelisks in the Hippodrome, 7 but Harawi's description is far from clear. He attibutes the Horologion to a certain miracle worker called Blinas - a name in which that of Apollonius of Tyana is just about recognizable. Like Harun-ibn-Yahya, Harawi speaks of the three bronze horses in front of the emperor's palace, which were also said to be the work of Apollonius, and which functioned as talismans. Ibn Battuta was born in Tanger in 1304, He came from a family of judges (qadi) and he, too, received legal training. 8 At the age of 21 he went on his first pilgrimage to Mecca. After that he spent about thirty years travelling around Asia, Africa and eastern Europe. He stayed in China, Sumatra and Ceylon, and also made a trip across the Sahara to central Africa. During a stay at the court of Oezbeg Khan of the Golden Horde (1312-40), the Mongol ruler, who lived in the steppes, he was given the opportunity of visiting the city of Constantinople. The third wife of the Khan was a Greek princess, and the Khan had given h.er leave to visit her parents; in those familiar surroundings she would be able to give birth to her child. 9 In about 1332 Ibn Battuta visited Constantinople in the train of this princess. 10 The name he calls her by is Bayaloun; her original Greek name is not known. 11 Ibn Battuta regards the many sights of Constantinople from the point of view of a believing Moslem. It is interesting to notice how he places the accent on different things than the west-European authors of his time do. He says how, accompanied by a special guide allocated to him by Emperor Andronicus Ill (1328-41) and preceded by trumpeters, he carried out his tour of the city. It is remarkable, however, that in his account there is no mention of any of the much-

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described monuments such as the statue of Justinian, the great columns, the Hippodrome and the immense cisterns. He does pay some attention to the Hagia Sophia, although he only saw this church from the outside; he did not feel inclined to make the required genuflexion to the cross above the door on the way in. 12 He knows nothing o.f Constantine and Justinian as builders; he attributes the building of the Hagia Sophia to Assaf ben Barkhya, the son of an aunt of Solomon. Ibn Battuta shows great interest in the city's function as a harbour and as a centre of commerce. He saw innumerable ships of many different nationalities anchored in the Golden Horn. He speaks about Astanbul and Galata, and specially mentions the busy bazaars, where all sorts of products were sold. His general impression of the churches and bazaars in Constantinople and Galata, however, was that everything was very dirty. There is an important description of the interior of the audience room of the Blachernae Palace, which he, as a Moslem, was only allowed to enter by special permission. His interest in legal matters emerges in his mention of a pavilion near the Hagia Sophia where the judges held their sittings. A remarkable passage tells of a conversation Ibn Battuta had with the former emperor, Andronicus II, who after abdicating from the throne had become a monk and entered a monastery (1328-32); this provides a date for Ibn Battuta's stay in Constantinople. Ibn Battuta was particularly struck by the great number of monasteries and the presence of so many religious, both men and women, in the city. Concerning the topography and the study of the ancient monuments Ibn Battuta's account offers little of importance but the picture he gives of the general aspect of the city and of daily life in it contains some interesting information. He describes, for example, how the inhabitants were dressed; how the men carried a parasol both in summer and in winter; the women wore large turbans, while male headgear consisted of a highy pointed hat. When, after a month the princess still made no move to go back to the Khan, Ibn Battuta and a number of Turks belonging to her retinue returned across the steppes to the Mongolian residence at Sarai. 13 That was all that Ibn Battuta saw of Byzantium. On his other;~ journeys he visited places in Asia Minor, including the towns of Ephesus and Pergamon. In Ephesus he mentions the

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two great basilicas, one of which, the Basilica of St. John, was at that time used as a mosque. In Pergamon he was shown the house of a celebrated former resident; he mentions the name of Plato, but in this he was probably mistaken; he must mean the philosopher and physician Galenus. In Uorocco, some time after 1354, Ibn Battuta dictated his travelling experiences to the secretary, Ibn Juzayy, at the command of the sultan. He appears to have spent the last years of his life as a 'qadi' in some town or other in Morocco.

X. OTHER TRAVEL ACCOUNTS Jean de Mandeville In this category I would like to place the work of Jean de Mandeville. 1 For many centuries his writing occupied a very prominent place among medieval travel accounts. It was regarded as the handbook for everything to do with the countries of the Levant, and all that lay beyond in the unknown and therefore mysterious East. This admiration is especially reflected in the large number of translations of Mandeville's book which soon appeared, and in the numerous manuscripts which are found in libraries spread all over Europe. 2 In the course of the eighteenth century, and even more in the nineteenth, this universal admiration gradually died out. People began to read more medieval travel literature, and to read it more critically, and to find other authors, often important ones, besides Mandeville; comparison with their work was less and less to Mandeville's advantage. There were increasing doubts to the value of his information. 3 By 1888-89 Mandeville's fame is definitely at an end. Bovenschen has produced many arguments to show that in fact the work is no more than a compilation - and sometimes a bad one, at that- that was circulated under a false name, 4 Bovenschen's theory received almost immediate confi~mation; in 1889 an English version of Mandeville's story was published, edited by Warner, who had been even more successful in tracing Mandeville's sources. 5 Mandeville claimed to be an English knight from St. Albans, 6 who set out for the East by ship in 1332; there he entered the service of the sultan of Egypt who came to hold him in great esteem on account of his great bravery; after spending some twenty or thirty years in the Levant he became ill with gout and in 1356 he travelled back to Liege. All of this is pure invention. In actual fact the author was a doctor, Jean de Bourgogne, also known as Jean a la Barbe, who lived in Liege between 1343 and 1372, 7 He probably wrote the work in about 1350, and it was published between ~357 and 1371. There is no doubt whatsoever that Mandeville never did visit most of the countries he describes, but in the case of his visit to Egypt and his stay at the court of the sultan there is some uncertainty. The many details Mandeville recounts about this, for which no other source can be found,

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may be based upon autopsy although it is equally possible that the source of these passages has been lost. 8 Even if the part about Egypt was written from personal experience, this is still only a small detail in the work as a whole, and the only thing that remains for us to admire in Jean la Barbe is his extensive reading. Mandeville's two main sources are Wilhelm von Boldensele and Brother Odoric of Pordenone. From Boldensele he obtained his information about the journey to Palestine by way of Constantinople, and the description of Egypt and the Holy Land. Brother Odoric supplied the facts about the countries further to the east, which he had visited on his travels to India, Java and even China. 9 While the works of these two authors form the basis of Mandeville's work, the whole thing is decorated with fragments from many different writers, including Jacques de Vitry (the Greek Orthodox church), William of Tripoli (Islamica), Vincentius of Beauvais, Jacques de Voragine, Marco Polo (the Far East), Haiton (Armenia) and Johannes de Plana Carpini (Mongolia and Tartary). A good way of making plagiarism more difficult to recognize is to write in a different language from the original: most of Mandeville's sources had been composed in Latin; he himself wrote in French. 10 There is no need, here, to go into the excerpts from Boldensele's work; one point, however, is worth our attention. The passage about the pyramid with the inscription on it caused some problems. Mandeville talks about the Granaria Pharaonis, and mentions the fact that there were inscriptions on the pyramid in several different languages, but, unlike Ludolf von Sudheim, he refrains from reproducing the inscription. I do not wish to rule out the possibility of there being a direct connection with the fact that the presence of this inscription in Boldensele's work was something extremely unusual. Simply to copy it out might have been risky for Mandeville; it could have led to him being unmasked as a fraud. For the sake of completeness I shall give here a short summary of those passages in Mandeville which relate to Constantinople and Greece, After listing the routes to the East, he turns his attention to Constantinople, with the Church of Hagia Sophia and the statue of Emperor Justinian on horseback. Mandeville says that the apple had fallen out of the Emperor's hand; according to him this was symbolic of the loss of power and territory which the Byzantine empire had suffered. All attempts to restore the apple to its place had

a

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failed. There must be some mistake here, however, for not only was the apple in the hand of the rider during Boldensele's visit in 1332 but it was still there almost a century later, in 1420, What did happen was that in 1317 the cross on the orb fell down. This may be what was behind Mandeville's mistake. 11 This information in any case, was not taken from Boldensele. The passage about the equestrian statue is followed by an extremely full description of all kinds of relics in Constantinople. The list of Greek islands is in all probability taken from the encyclopedic work of Brunetto Latini. 12 In the third chapter Athos is referred to, and the fact that the top of this mountain rises above the clouds leads to the statement that the shadow of the mountain stretches as far as the island of Lemnos, a distance of 76 miles. There is said to be no wind at all on the top of mount Athos; to show that this is so the story is told of some philosophers who climbed the mountain and wrote in the sand on the top; when they returned a year later they found the writing still completely undisturbed. This tale may have been borrowed from Vincentius of Beauvais, 13 with the difference that the latter told the story about Mount Olympus. The Historia Scholastica of Petrus Comestor also contains this story, and this could also be Mandeville's source. 14 In chapter IV there is an interesting description of the island of Lango (Cos). According to a medieval tradition, the origin of which can no longer be traced, the daughter of Hippocrates lived on this island, in the shape of a snake. Only if a knight should dare to kiss her would she regain her human form. Unfortunately for the person in question, the two attempts described by Mandeville came to nothing! Some years later the same story can be found in Niccolo da lVIartoni, and a shortened version of it is also found in Buondelmonti. This fairy tale apparently belonged to the local tradition on the island. 15 The document from which Mandeville borrowed this story has not yet been traced; so far this is the oldest work in which the story of Hippocrates' daughter occurs. The description of Rhodes is extremely short. The island had previously belonged, according to Mandeville, to the emperor of Byzantium, and in his time was in the possession of the Knights of the Order of St. John. The oldest name of the island was said to be Colas, and according to Mandeville it was to the inhabitants of this island that Paul wrote his famous epistle to the Colossians.

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After this Mandeville's description of Greece comes to an end. He shows no interest at all in the antiquities in the area. Legend and fantasy are always more important to him than facts. As a writer Mandeville cannot be left out of this study, but his writing has little of importance for us.

XI. LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTIC PROBLEMS The knowledge of Greek in western Europe It is not my intention to discuss the knowledge of and interest in the Greek language in western Europe during the middle ages. A detailed study of this subject has not yet been written, but in many parts of the field much preparatory work has alreadl been done. In this connection the names of Bertold Altaner and Roberto Weiss, 2 in particular, should be mentioned. All I want to do here is to call attention to a few aspects of the subject which are related to travel and to travellers. The strange language and different way of writing have always formed a hindrance to contact between the Greekspeaking population and foreign visitors. There is hardly a single author who, in writing about his travels gives any sign of knowing the Greek language to any extent at all. In the majority of cases the most one can expect is a vague knowledge of the alphabet 3 and of a few frequently-occurring words. lt

The period up to the twelfth century In the early middle ages the knowledge of Greek was lost to the whole of western Europe with the exception of the south of Italy, although here and there some interest in the language could still be found. 5 This interest was not concerned, however, with the study of the language itself, but was always of a utilitarian nature (theological, liturgical, medical). The possibilities for learning the language were extremely limited because both teachers and study material were very hard to come by. The whole business was very much dependent upon individuals: the death of the teacher usually meant the end of all activity. The circle surrounding Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury (668-93) is a good example of this. He was a Greek, originally from Tarsus, who in his youth had studied in Athens; 6 when he was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury he collected around him a circle of people who were interested in both Greek and Latin. Because there was nobody with sufficient knowledge to succeed him, the circle broke up soon after his death. The same fate befell the activities of John Scotus Eriugena: he was an Irishman living at the Frankish court in the ninth century; he was extremely Greek-minded, as a result of which he was rather

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isolated. He had no pupils to continue his work, and therefore the knowledge which he had acquired with such difficulty was completely lost again. 7 It was impossible to study on one's own, from books, because of the absence of suitable manuals. There was no good Greek grammar; all that was available were glossaries in two languages, which contained short phrases or separate words in Latin and Greek. 8 No more could be expected from these than a rather unsystematic knowledge of a number of separate words. It is certain that there were a number of Greeks in Germany, and also in France, in the ninth and tenth centuries. There were some among the monks of St. Denis, 9 and when the Byzantine princess Theophano travelled to the north in 972 for her wedding to Otto II she also brought a number of her compatriots with her. In the artistic field these Greeks made their influence clearly felt; but the opportunity their presence provided of learning Greek - either at the court or at a few of the more important monasteries - was only taken up by extremely few people. This lack of interest is, to some extent, understandable. The most important factor was that people did not have th.e strength of mind necessary to break away from their own exclusively Latin-orientated world. There was little need, too, to take the trouble to learn a foreign language, since for everything that was considered important there were Latin translations. One had the Bible, and beyond that interest was mainly in books of a theological nature. The treaties of the Greek Fathers, which had come to the West in their original language, were then translated with all speed. 10 In the middle ages anybody who took an interest in Greek did so with an exclusively theoretical and scholastic purpose in mind. Greek writers were read and translated, preference being given to theological works; there was no interest at all in Greek literature and poetry. No practical use could be found for this study. It was unthinkable that after his studies anybody should go off to Byzantine territory in order to put into practice what he had learnt and to increase his knowledge. Although in the period before the twelfth century some knowledge of Greek did continue to exist here and there, it appears that among precisely those groups of people who travelled abroad in those centuries this knowledge was not present. Because travellers to Byzantine territory -mostly pilgrims and diplomatic envoys - were few in number, the fact that they did not know the language caused relatively few

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problems. Most of the difficulties occurred in the diplomatic service. In the Curia and at the courts of western-European sovereigns problems must have arisen regularly when documents arrived from Byzantium without a translation attached. In the fifth century even Pope Coelestinus I was unable to answer a letter he received which was written in Greek, because nobody could translate it for him. In the seventh century nobody could be found to take on the job of translator, even in Ravenna, the seat of the Byzantine exarch. 11 People often did manage to obtain a Latin translation of the imperial documents from the Byzantine chancelleries. 12 Papal diplomacy was conducted entirely in Latin; even the apocrisiarii, the envoys to the imperial court in Constantinople, only spoke Latin; Pope Gregory the Great, an educated man who had spent some six years in Constantinople as a nuntius, (578-84) is known not to have spoken any Greek. 13 Greek popes in Rome, too, were hardly able to accomplish anything because they were surrounded by people who only spoke Latin. Anybody in Rome who did speak Greek belonged to the small group of immigrants and monl~:s 14 who had fled from Byzantium to Italy. It is easy to understand why Liudprand of Cremona was chosen by Emperor Otto I to perform various missions at the court of the Byzantine emperor: in the south of Italy the bishop of Cremona had managed to acquire a rather good knowledge of 15 Greek; this is demonstrated in several places in his writing. In commercial contacts with Byzantium the lack of knowledge of the language was of very little importance, precisely because Levantines and Jews usually acted as intermediaries. Even when their activities were taken over by the Italian ports I do not think there were many problems, because in the south of Italy plenty of interpreters were to be found. There is one other group, limited in number, for whom a knowledge of Greek was useful. Marriages are known to have taken place from time to time, or to have been envisaged, between western-European princesses and Greek princes. These princesses needed to learn the Greek language, and sometimes this happened before they went to the Byzantine empire. In the majority of cases very little can be found about this in the chronicles. We know that when the Bavarian Princess Hadwiga, daughter of Count Heinrich and niece of Otto I (tenth century), was engaged to a Byzantine prince, she had Greek lessons at her home in Germany from some eunuchs who were sent specially for that purpose, and as a result she learned to speak the language fluently. In the end, however, the marriage did not take place, and Hadwiga remained in

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Germany and married the Duke of Swabia, In the monastery of Sankt Gallen the monk and later abbot, Burchard II, benefitted greatly from Hadwiga's knowledge, 16

The period from the twelfth century onward From the twelfth century onward, when contacts between Byzantium and the West were no longer limited to isolated more or less chance meetings, a steady increase may be observed in the knowledge of the Greek language in westernEurope. The great difference with the preceding centuries is that the study of the language now occurs at two entirely different levels: as well as theoretical and literary studies aimed only at the classical Greek authors, ther~ is an increasingly felt need for practical knowledge of the language, for a study of the every day speech of Byzantine Greece, In the scholarly type of study there is a continuation, on a much wider scale, of what had already developed in previous centuries, Bible exegesis continues to occupy a central position, and the study which is most preferred is that of classical and early-Christian authors in the field of theology, hagiography and philosophy. New areas of study such as classical mathematics and medical literature, which could be put to some practical use, were also being explored and developed.17 This was made possible by more intensive contacts with the Byzantine empire, where west-Europeans went to live, at first only in the capital but later, in the thirteenth and fourteenth century, all over the whole area, An ever-increasing number of manuscripts reached the west, thus furthering the development of western learning. 18 Hippocrates, the celebrated physician of Cos, and his fellow-doctor Galenus, were well-known in the West through translations of their work. 19 The writings of Aristotle also received more and more attention. Historical and literary works were still completely ignored; only the Iliad is known in a Latin version, which is attributed either to Homer himself(!) or to Pindar, 20 Geographical works, which could have been of great help for travel purposes were still completely unknown; Ptolemy's Geographica was not known in the West before the fifteenth century, and Pausanias' description of his travels through ancient Greece could not be used as a guide by a single one of the travellers described in this book. 21 In the twelfth to fourteenth centuries philological activity was concentrated in two centres: the South of Italy and Sicily, and, far off in northern Europe, in England,

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But the developments in England cannot be separated from those in southern Italy; the work of people like John of Salisbury (c. 1115-1180), Robert Grosseteste (c. 1168-1253) and Roger Bacon (c. 1210-1292) was not only inspired by Greeks from that area, but also actively supported by them. 22 After the death of the driving forces behind them (Grosseteste and Bacon) activities in England abated somewhat, but never entirely disappeared. 23 In France, Germany and Scandinavia there was considerably less interest and less work was being done. Intellectuals in those places sometimes knew some Greek, but their knowledge was very limited. The scholar Otto von Freising (twelfth century) knew only a little Greek, but even so he stood out clearly from his surroundings. 24 To what extent his participation in the second Crusade contributed to this knowledge we cannot tell. The study of the Greek language, both in the South of Italy and in England has been the subject of various studies in the last few decennia. 25 This is also true of the interest in humanism which emerged in the North of Italy in the course of the fourteenth century. The largely unsuccessful efforts of Petrarch to learn Greek from Barlaam of Seminara 26 as well as Leontius Pilatus• 27 activities in the field of learning in Florence in about 1363, and those of Manuel Chrysoloras some thirty years later, 28 have all been studied in detail. It therefore appears sufficient to make do here with this rapid sketch of the theoretical and literary level of scholarship, and to turn our attention to the other level of language learning found from the twelfth century onward. By contrast with the scholarly, theoretical studies, in which southern Italy occupied a position of central importance, the learning of the everyday language occurred mainly on Byzantine Greek soil. Constantinople was very important in this respect, but so also were Thessalonica, Thebes, Ath.ens and the Peloponnesus. With the increasing contact between the Byzantine empire and western Europe, and with the growing number of travellers, the inability to spealt the language came to be seen more and more as a serious obstacle. In the commercial field this problem was not yet so important. Trade with the Byzantine empire and the Islamic states of the Levant was by now almost entirely in the hands of the Italian seaports, of which Venice and Genoa were foremost in impo·rtance. This meant that in all the ports of the Levant the language of the Venetians and Genoese was spoken and understood to some

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extent. The other side of this coin was that these merchants now also understood some Greek and to a lesser extent, Arabic. This process was further stimulated by the establishment of trading posts in each other's countries 29 to facilitate commercial relations. Whereas the Greek settlements in towns such as Venice, Genoa, Bari and Ancona remained relatively small, in the twelfth century the Latin settlements in the Byzantine empire grew into very large communities. According to the Byzantine writer Eustathius, in 1180 there were more than 60,000 Latins in Constantinople. 30 The interest of these businessmen was directed primarily towards trade; their knowledge of the language was also mainly determined by this. In practice what must have evolved was a sort of mixture of Greek and Italian with some Arabic influence, such as English is spoken nowadays in ports such as Mombasa (mixed with Swahili) and Singapore (mixed with Malay). Not only was this knowledge one-sided, directed towards trade and shipping terms, but in many cases it was verbal knowledge only. We cannot tell how far the Italian merchants knew anything about grammatical rules, or about Greek in its written form. Sources of information about daily life in the Italian communities inside the Byzantine empire, and also in the Islamic states, are almost non-existent. It is extremely interesting to be suddenly confronted with the complaint by a certain Moses of Bergamo, a man who enjoyed great fame as a scholar and interpreter. He expresses regret that in a fire in the Venetian quarter of Constantinople in 1129 - an event which is not mentioned at all in Venetian chronicles - a number of valuable Greek manuscripts which he had managed to acquire at great trouble and expense were all destroyed. 31 An account of this sort remains exceptional, however. A number of the names by which the towns and islands were known in medieval Greece also originated in merchant circles. Setines is the medieval name for Athens, and the Acropolis is never referred to by that name, but always spoken of as the castle of Setines. 32 The word came from 33 EtG ; Istanbul, the Turkish name for Constantinople, came into being in the same way. 34 In these words the original name is still recognizable; this is more difficult in the case of the medieval name for Ephesus: Altaluogo. The etymological connection with John the Evangelist, who had lived in Ephesus and who was known there as o OYLOG 0EOAOYOG

aanVQ6

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had been lost. Because the various parts of the city stood on separate hills, it was soon assumed that this name had to do with a high place. 35 The same applies to the island of Euboea, where it is true that the name Negropont or Negripont is derived from Euripos, but an association was also made with the bridge which, in the middle ages, connected this island with the Greek mainland. 36 For the Crusaders their lack of knowledge of the language was a great problem as they travelled through Greek territory. Hardly any of them spoke Greek, 37 and I believe that the impossibility of making contact was one of the reasons for the undisciplined way in which many Crusaders behaved towards the Greek population. Guibert of Nogent tells how many of those taking part in the first Crusade had to make known their faith in Christ by means of signs, and for the rest simply had to trust in the charity of their fellow believers. 38 Only the leaders of the Crusades, who understood Latin, were in a more favourable position. In the fourth Crusade the language problem was less acute, because of the large Venetian contingent involved in the undertaking, but even then there was hardly anybody among the French participants who knew any Greek. Riant has described how some of the conquerors of Constantinople, when sending off some of the stolen relics, seriously attempted to discover the origins of these valuable objects, and how interpreters were sometimes brought in to help (from the Latin trade settlements?) while sometimes people tried to learn Greek for themselves. 3 ~ These, however, are events which are mentioned only because of the fact that they are so unusual. The pilgrims had the same problem as the Crusaders, but in their case measures were taken to make things easier for them. Because of the increasing number of pilgrimages these journeys became more and more commercial. I have already described how the Venetians organized a special service for transporting pilgrims to Palestine, For the use of these Palestine pilgrims there were small vocabularies on the market. These vocabularies, which appear in many pilgrims' books, are based on the things people are likely to need in their daily life - a sort of Greek phrase book. From the eleventh century onward we find these little lists of words in Greek- Latin and in Greek- Italian. 40 They usually contain only the most elementary necessities, about thirty words, just sufficient to keep oneself alive on the journey, to spend the night somewhere and to continue on one's way.

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Similar lists soon appeared for Hebrew, 41 and later on other languages were also added. A good example of lists of this sort is found in the pilgrims' book by Adolf von Harff, a nobleman from Cologne (end of the fifteenth century); this contains a list of basic necessities in many different languages. 42 It might perhaps be expected that the Franks who settled down in the small Latin states after 1204 would soon have acquired a reasonable knowledge of Greek. The little information we have f~om such sources as have survived points, however, in a completely different direction. As has already been said, integration with the local Greek population was very slow. The machinery of government was modelled on the French, and the official language was also originally French, although in the course of the fourteenth century this was replaced by Italian. The Greek population was hardly involved at all, and one may assume that only those of them who learned the language of their masters were able to exercise any influence at all in government. 43 For the ordinary colonists it was sufficient just to know a few words for the business of every day. Only among the higher feudal lords and some of the c1ergy 44 can one find a knowledge of Greek in the thirteenth century. It is very likely that the knowledge of Greek among the nobility was stimulated by marriages with Greek princesses. It is still evident, however, that in the chronicles of the time - o~which the chronicle of the Morea is the most important - a knowledge of Greek is mentioned as something exceptional. About William of Achaea it says that in 1259, after his defeat at Pelagonia by Michael VIII and John Palaeologus, he spoke to his conquerors in Greek: 'li princes Guillermes, qui sages estoit et parloit anques bien le grec ... ' . 45 William was born in the Morea, and just a year previously had married Helena Angela Comnena of Epirus; he was one of the few westerners to become really integrated. 46 A second feudal lord who could at least manage a few words of Greek, was Jean de la Roche, lord of Athens. In 1275 he addressed his men on the eve of a battle, and to put courage into them he pointed out that although the enemy was made up of many people, there were but few 'real men' among them: 'il Duca veduto senza mirar ben detto essercito disse in greco~ poli laos oligo atropi, cioe grande essercito e pochi Uomini'. Such a statement may indicate some acquaintance with the Greek language, but to assume, as Setton does, on the grounds of a certain similarity to a passage from Herodotus (Book VII, 210), that Jean de la Roche was familiar

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with that author, seems to me to go too far. 47 The solution suggested by Miller, too - quite unsubstantiated - that the story is based on a proverb, seems to me excessive and unnecessary. 48 These are simply words that any general uses to encourage his troops in the face of superior numbers. I do not believe, therefore, that they tell us anything much about Jean de la Roche's knowledge of Greek literature. What we can conclude from the great emphasis on the fact that somebody said something in Greek is that that was itself still exceptional at that time. Another piece of evidence points in the same direction. Leonardo da Veroli, the chancellor of Achaia and the wealthy owner of houses and estates, is known to have possessed a small library. This consisted mainly of romances and medical writings: fourteen romances, and two medical books. He also owned one Greek book and one chronicle, 49 Here, too, we can only draw the conclusion that the possession of such a Greek book was considered something exceptional, that deserved to be mentioned separately. Mercenaries and adventurers could hardly be expected to have any great knowledge of the country in which they found themselves. The Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon members of the Varangian Guard lived, both in Constantinople and elsewhere, in their own regiments. The commanding officers may perhaps be expected to have had some knowledge of the language of their employers, although this will have been mainly only in the verbal form; the rank and file probably felt very little need to learn the language. In diplomatic circles the very limited knowledge of foreign languages was always a serious problem. After the establishment of the Latin states increasing diplomatic contacts were maintained. Especially in the religious field, discussions between Rome and Constantinople were also on the increase. As a result of the schism of 1054 a rift had occurred between the Greek Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Church. In the centuries that followed there were many negotiations afoot to restore the unity of the two Churches. As far as possible interpreters were employed who had acquired their knowledge of the language either in southern Italy or in the western communities inside Greek territory. Thus in 1136, in the dispute about theological questions that took place in Constantinople, the western delegation included Moses of Bergamo, who had lived for a long time in the Venetian settlement in Constantinople, and Burgundio of Pisa,

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who had spent the greater part of his youth in the Pisan quarter of that city. 50 In the negotiations of 1205-1207 Niccolo of Otranto played an important part as an interpreter and translator. 51 Sometimes, however, no expert interpreters could be found, and the negotiations were then very much delayed and disrupted because people did not understand each other's language, or interpreted it wrongly. In the Curia there was a great lack of expert interpreters, and quite often people felt little faith in such interpreters as there were. 52 At the Council of Lyons (in 1274, specially devoted to Church unity) the Greek documents could hardly be translated, and even the fact that the Greek delegation included the megas hermeneutes, the head of the Byzantine translation department, was not very much help in solving the problems. 53 It was in fact Constantinople's contacts with the West that suffered most from the lack of linguistic knowledge. Foreign envoys in Constantinople received a better welcome, in view of the fact that there were well organized bureaux for translation and interpretation. These were staffed mainly by western Europeans who had stayed behind in the Levant. 54 At the court of th.e Tartars and later at that of the Turkish sultans a good deal of attention was given to learning foreign languages. As early as the fifteenth century the Turks already had a Greek and a Slav chancellery; they engaged people specially for them from western Europe, from Greek territory and from Russia. 55 In spite of the great linguistic problems which continually cropped up in contacts with the Byzantine empire, it must be said that in western Europe people never saw this as a reason to increase education in foreign languages. It was only with the missionary interests of the newly-founded Orders of Franciscans and Dominicans that a greater professional expertise came into being. These Orders had the advantage that because of their settlements in Greek territory, and also elsewhere in the Levant, they could rely more and more on people from the region, who could take on the training of new missionaries. The importance of this was soon recognized by the leaders of the Church, and thus it was the missionary aspect that lay behind the decision of the Council of Vienne in 1312 to introduce Chairs of Greek, Hebrew, Syriac and 56 Arabic at five universities: Paris, Bologna, Oxford, Salamanca and the university of the Papal Curia at Avignon. 57 This decision of the Council was partly put into effect, at least in Avignon, Oxford and Paris. In about 1317 the Francis-

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can Archbishop of Ephesus, Conrad, went to teach languages in Avignon. 58 A start was made in England in 1320, 59 and it may be assumed that in Paris, too, there were some teachers functioning round about 1325. 60 There was in any case no very great activity, as the plan as a whole did not receive a very enthusiastic welcome in western Europe; it was therefore not long before it was dropped. The idea continued, however, and in the fifteenth century the question was brought up again at the Council of Basel in 1434, and the decision of the Council of Vienne was reiterated in full. One result of the linguistic knowledge of the missionary Orders was that they were called upon more and more to negotiate diplomatic relations. In the fourteenth to fifteenth century most of the legations to Byzantium and the Levant included Franciscans and Dominicans. The state of the knowledge of the Greek language in western Europe as sketched above displays a strong resemblance to the central theme of this study, in which the attitude to the ancient monuments in Greece is examined. In neither case is there much direct interest at all; there is often a lack of any reasonable factual knowledge, and those few exceptional people who stand out in contrast to the great amorphous mass are merely separate and individual characters. We can only conclude from this that it was not only the Greek language, nor only the ancient monuments that failed to interest medieval man, but that the Greek world as a whole, its language, its religion, its history and its customs, left visitors from elsewhere almost entirely unmoved.

PART

Il

THE MONUMENTS

INTRODUCTION Having discussed in Part I a wide variety of travellers to Greek territory and particularly to the capital, Constantinople, in this second part I shall concentrate on their accounts of antique ruins and ancient traditions. The places described and named in the travel accounts are arranged according to their geographical position. I have attempted to summarize in various tables the information about ancient Greece provided by these medieval travellers. A distinction has been made between descriptions (sometimes lengthy ones) (o) and brief references (x); information which is not based on personal observation has also been included under 'references'. It seems appropriate to begin with some remarks about these tables after which each area will be considered separately. What strikes one first of all is that the travellers include representatives of many different nationalities. No particular pattern emerges here, which is not surprising, considering that the people concerned are individuals~ who, contrary to the custom of their times left behind an account of their experiences on their travels in which ancient remains sometimes play some part. On the other hand, it is not entirely due to chance that among the early accounts (before 1200) the Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians occupy a comparatively important place. It may well be that these peoples, who had no antique monuments on their own territory were therefore all the more impressed by the remains of ancient buildings and objects, which were totally unknown to them. The fragmentary and heterogenous nature of the material, however, makes it impossible to state this with certainty. The fact that a fairly high percentage of the authors were drawn from among the clergy can easily be explained, Mbre than any others, the clergy had a reasonable level of general education and were able to write. Moreover, the chief motive for travel in the middle ages was provided by pilgrimages, in which. the clergy played a major part. Nor should the role they played in the Crusades be underestimated, It is interesting to note that the account of the journey was sometimes not actually written by the pilgrim or crusader himself, but by the chaplain who accompanied him on the journey. 1 Moreover, the importance of the clergy in diplomatic contacts with Byzantium has already been

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INTRODUCTION

indicated as have the pastoral and missionary activities of Dominicans and Franciscans in south-east Europe and Asia Minor. 2 Accounts by middle-class writers are sometimes found, but these are comparatively rare. 3 The nobility, on the other hand, made a much larger contribution, mainly as crusaders or pilgrims, and as diplomats. The situation of the Arab writers is in part identical to that of the western Europeans and the Russians. These travellers are mainly drawn from among the educated administrative class; the number of clergy in this group is much smaller. The language in which the accounts are composed is closely connected with the social position of the authors. For the clergy Latin was the universal language; the more educated members of the nobility also usually expressed themselves in this language. The reason for this was that in western Europe the school system was based entirely upon Latin. Yet throughout the whole medieval period Latin was only known to a limited circle of people. The development of the vernacular which can be observed in literature in various places after about 1100, is also reflected in the travel literature of the time. From the twelfth century onward we see more and more movement in travel writing towards the use of the vernacular. The nobility also makes increasing use of this medium. On the other hand Latin long remained current, especially in documents presented to ecclesiastical and civil dignitaries. 4 Although one might expect that the use of the vernacular in travel accounts would make these accessible to a wide public this was not altogether the case. From the fact that 5 many of the accounts have survived in only one manuscript one can only conclude that they cannot have been very widely publicized. Only a few works are known to have acquired a great degree of fame; Mandeville's forgery was by far the most widely-read travel account in the middle ages. Another fact that strikes one is that the travellers concentrated chiefly on cities and the larger islands. By contrast with our own time, when the flight from the large towns to the peace and quiet of the countryside sometimes assumes extreme forms, in the middle ages travelling consisted of moving as quickly as possible from place to place, or from island to island. The countryside meant very little to travellers, partly because it was sparsely populated, or even entirely uninhabited, but most of all because everywhere it

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185

was unsafe. 6 Thus the countryside is not mentioned in medieval travel writing. In the middle ages there is an almost total absence of that interest in the aesthetic value of landscape that can be found in classical antiquity 7 and that from the Romantic period onward, particularly under the influence of Rousseau's 'Back to nature' 8 , has again gathered strength. 9 Most of those who travelled through Greek territory made the journey either entirely or mainly by ship. In an area with a long and twisting coastline, with countless promontories and bays and with hundreds of islands scattered in the sea, the ship was the most suitable means of transport, and the fastest. Moreover, a sea voyage was usually safer than a journey over land. It is precisely this matter of the lack of safety on the way that is particularly emphasized by many travellers in their accounts. The opinion which is almost unanimously expressed is that travel, throughout Europe and beyond, was a dangerous and difficult undertaking. Dangers threatened the traveller on every side, sometimes caused by the forces of nature, sometimes by criminals. Yet it does not at all appear from the accounts that travel through Greek territory was any more dangerous or difficult than travel anywhere else. In 905 Arethas of Caesarea was threatened by Arab pirates and Bulgarian robbers on his journey from Constantinople to Corinth. 10 In the letters of Michael Choniates the fear felt for Leo Sgouros and other pirates in the period round l200 is clearly shown. 11 In about 1232 a voyage through Greek waters was even compared to a journey to the Acheron; 12 and in the fourteenth century Jacob of Verona and Niccolo da Martoni also appear to be terrified of pirates. Foreigners were mostly viewed with suspicion in the Byzantine empire; in several of the biographies of holy men who went on pilgrimages to Palestine we are told how in the Byzantine empire the pilgrim in question was arrested as a spy and finally regained his freedom only with difficulty. 13 The measures taken against foreign merchants who had to live in separate living areas indicate the same attempt at segregation. When, after 1204, the population of Greece started to take on a more cosmopolitan character as a result of the influx of western knights, the situation changed. The need for direct contact between Greeks and foreigners no longer existed. Because the westerners mainly sought contact with their fellow-countrymen a form of voluntary isolation grew up - a situation probably not regretted by either side. The mountainous and in many places still thickly forested

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INTRODUCTION

country 14 did not lend itself well to easy travel over land. 15 Often, moreover, there were hardly any mounts or pack-animals available; from the many permits granted by Charles I d'Anjou of Naples for the free export of mules and horses from Apulia to the Morea one can only conclude that in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries there was a permanent shortage of transport.16 For the travellers themselves there were hardly any facilities, as is sometimes stated in the travel descriptions. Bertrandon de la Broquiere, in about 1430, makes matters entirely clear: 'il faut porter par la Grece tout cede quoy on a necessite par la chemin' . 17 Unlike in classical Greece, where sufficient facilities were available for the numerous travellers, 18 there were hardly any inns; the only lodgings there were, were considered dirty, unreliable and expensive. Niccolo da Martoni complains regularly about the lack of reasonable lodgings. The fact that foreign visitors to Greek territory so often approached fellow countrymen is closely connected with this. In the middle ages it was one of the duties of the clergy to provide shelter for travellers. There was always room for many travellers in the houses of bishops and abbots, and not only for clergy who - except 'peregrinationis necessitate compulsus' - were not supposed to frequent inns, but for others too. 19 In the Greece of post-1204 the Latin clergy fulfilled this task of providing hospitality. In Athens, Corinth and Patras Niccolo da Martoni took up residence at the house of the archbishop on the grounds that there were no inns available. 20 From the surviving sources it nowhere appears that any hospitality on the part of the inhabitants of Greece, so renowned both in antiquity and in modern times,rendered travel through their territory agreeable. On the contrary, Saewulf, writing about his journey, says that he stayed either on the sea or in deserted huts and hovels on islands, 'quia Greci non sunt hospitales' . 21 Niccolo da Martoni was left standing outside the closed gate of Megara at nightfall; in his search for somewhere to lay his head for the night he eventually finished up in a little roadside chapel: 22 I do not think that these experiences were exceptional. The constant fear of strangers, robbers and pirates led to a conscious isolation from outsiders, who might constitute a danger to such possessions, often very paltry, as people had. Yet here, too, it is true to say that the Greeks were not exceptional in this respect; I know of no information which might suggest that the

INTRODUCTION

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situation was much better elsewhere. Besides the problem of accommodation, which undoubtedly added greatly to the difficulties of travelling, it must also be remembered that the actual destination of most of the travellers did not lie in Byzantine territory. All they were interested in was to get through it as quickly as possible. Only in the case of a few travellers is there any question of a deliberate tour of Greece and of a number of islands. 23 All these factors were responsible for the fact that most western travellers came no further than a few places along the coast and on some of the islands, where their boat put in for provisions or to spend the night. This explains the comparatively great interest in islands, such as Corfu, Crete and Rhodes, and the fact that the regular stopping points, Modon and Koran, on the western side of the Peloponnesus are seldom omitted. The same applies to Russian travellers: the majority travelled across the Black Sea to Constantinople, and apart from that hardly set foot on Greek soil at all. The effects of this, from the point of view of a study of the ancient monuments, can be clearly demonstrated. Because the interior remained largely untouched such places as Delphi, Olympia and Sparta are nowhere mentioned or described. What antique remains there may still have been in those places we do not know. In the descriptions attention is concentrated upon a limited number of places which lie on or near the sea coast. In many cases no clear relationship with ancient Greece can be discovered.

XII. NORTHERN GREECE

1, ThessaZonica It is remarkable how little interest in Thessalonica is found in the surviving accounts by travellers through Greek territory. This is all the more extraordinary in view of the fact that there were several reasons why the city might have attracted their interest. After Constantinople it was the largest city in the European part of the Byzantine empire. The city was not difficult to get to, situated as it was on the sea and also on the old Roman Via Egnatia. Furthermore, Thessalonica is named in the Bible: Paul preached there in about the year 50, and later wrote his Epistle to the Thessalonicans. Moreover, in this city St. Demetrius was venerated, a saint who was not only known and venerated in the Balkans, but also in western Europe, although in the West there were comparatively few pictures of him. 1 The scarcity of sources suggests, however, that Thessalonica was very little known outside Greek territory, and particular in western Europe. 2 Only a few of the travellers discussed in this book paid a visit to Thessalonica. From their remarks it appears to have been a large and prosperous city with a considerable number of inhabitants. 3 From this we may conclude that the damage Thessalonica suffered in the various conquests including those by Saracens (904}, Normans (~~85) and Crusaders (~204) 4 - was limited, and that recovery was swift. The western evidence bears out what is known from Byzantine sources: a time of great prosperity in the eighth to ninth centuries and again at the beginning of the fourteenth century, and in the intervening period ~lternating prosperity and relapse. 5 The period of Latin rule in Thessalonica (~204-24) was probably too short to leave its mark. 6 The presence of western traders in this harbour city of northern Greece lasted longer, but this, too, left nothing to show for it, It is certain that even before 1204 Venetians, Pisans and Genoese regularly appeared in northern Greece to conduct trade. Benjamin of Tudela mentions their presence in the little port of Armiro in about ~~60, and they were also to be found in the large harbour of Thessalonica. 7 They cannot have been very numerous, in view of the fact that trading activities were concentrated on Constantinople; very little is known

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NORTHERN GREECE

about permanent trading settlements of the sort known in Constant.inople being found in Thessalonica in the twelfth century. Only in the last quarter of the thirteenth century did the Venetians have their own district there and their own church, which shows that Thessalonica was then an important place in their trading set-up. 8 Benjamin of Tudela estimated that there were five hundred Jews in Thessalonica, and also remarked that they were oppressed and discriminated against by the Greeks: the only employment open to them was manual labour. 9 Th.ese Jewish colonies in Thessalonica went bacl~ a long way; as early as the seventh century their presence is specifically referred to! 10 As a religious centre Thessalonica was undoubtedly of importance, but its importance was limited to the Balkans and Russia, For the Bulgarians, who were Christianized from there, Thessalonica was a sort of holy city. The grave of Demetrius was of great importance to all Orthodox Christians, and particularly round about the time of his feast day (October 26) pilgrims must have streamed in from miles around. 11 Perhaps Ignatius of Smolensk was one of them; he describes his visit to various monasteries and churches in the city, and also speaks of the oil which was said to flow in miraculous fashion from the saint's grave. Of the western travellers Schiltberger is the only one who also mentions this. Buondelmonti makes no mention at all of Thessalonica, which in the fourteen-twenties, precisely when he was writing his work,was in the throes of a political crisis. 12 In 1423 government was handed over to Venice in a last attempt to keep out the Turks. But this attempt failed, and in 1430 the city fell into Turkish hands anyway, as a result of the conquest by Murad II (1421-51). This fact, the recent conquest by the Turks, is the only thing that Pero Tafur has to impart about the city. The travel descriptions provide no material about the history of the city, or about the presence there of ancient monuments. Benjamin of Tudela is the only one who mentions the founding of the city, which he attributes to Seleucus, a general of Alexander the Great. This is not far from the truth: th.e city was founded in 316 B.C. by Kassander, another of Alexander's generals, and was named after his wife Thessalonike. The flowering of Thessalonica round about 300 A.D. of which the Arch of Galerius, the imperial palace and the Church of St. George (built as a sepulchral monument) were

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191

the tangible remains, went completely unnoticed in medieval descriptions. The oldest known description of the immense Arch of Galerius dates from 1521, in the Turkish shipping handbook of Piri Reis. 13 In the Turkish period parts of the imperial palace were used by the governors of the city, and after 1430 the Church of St. George was in use as a mosque. These edifices must have been noticed by medieval visitors to the city, and perhaps even visited. But we can only conclude th~t they did not make sufficient impression to warrant written evidence of the fact.

2. Stageira - Athos Stageira, situated near Thessalonica, is named only by Mandeville. He recounts that Aristotle was buried in this place, which was also his birthplace, and that he was commemorated as a saint in an annual feast. This Christianizing of the ancient philosopher, who was so influential in scholasticism, is quite understandable; but whether Mandeville's statement is true cannot be judged, as we have no other information about this. It is not only now that Athos is difficult to get to; in the middle ages people probably lived there in great isolation; in the sources that have survived little can be found about this peninsula. Mandeville's story about the high mountain where there was no wind and no birds or animals and where a text written in the sand could still be seen, undisturbed, a year later, has no historical value; the same story is told by Vincentius of Beauvais 14 about the Olympus. It seems to me that western travellers had very little motive for visiting the Athos, because the monasteries were inhabited almost exclusively by Greek-Orthodox and Russian monks. Only one community of western monks was established for a time on the Holy Mountain. Shortly after 984 a monastery was founded by Amalfitans near the Megale Laura. 15 This monastery continued to exist until well into tne thirteenth cent~ry, but very little is known of what happened there in those centuries. 16 From this we may conclude close contact with the west was not maintained. What is said in the travel descriptions is thus mostly based on hearsay. Although Clavijo's remarks are not based on personal observation they do contain some elements of truth, such as the fact that no female creatures were allowed on the Athos, and that the monks did not eat meat or fish. Clavijo mentions one large and wealthy monastery, situated two days' journey

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192

up the mountain; it is not clear which monastery he means, of the nineteen large ones in existence at that time. 17 As well as these there were dozens of smaller monasteries, according to Clavijo, where there were also many monks living. 18 Pero Tafur's description of the three monasteries situated at different levels, to which people were admitted as they grew in holiness, is not based upon personal observation, but it does give a good idea of what people in the area thought about the monks and their way of life. There is a valuable description of the Athos in Buondelmonti's Liber 1nsularum Archipelagi, 19 which is a eulogy, undoubtedly based on autopsy, of the simple monastic life. Many aspects of their life and work are dealt with, but a description of the monasteries and their treasures and relics is not to be found there. 2 For later travellers these treasures on the Athos were of the greatest importance. There were no ancient monuments at all on the peninsula, but this was more than made up for by the contents of the libraries and treasure chambers, including thousands of valuable manuscripts and documents. In 1444 Cyriacus of Ancona visited some of the monasteries on the Athos, in search of manuscripts. 21 He met with scant success - all he found was part of Plutarch's Moralia - but since then Athos has still not been exhausted as a treasure chamber of ancient culture.

°

3. Hellespont - Gallipoli On their way to Constantinople countless travellers sailed through the Hellespont (generally known in the middle ages as Brachium Sancti Georgii), but only a very few say anything about it in their writing. Saewulf estimates the width of the passage as no more than three bowshots. He is the only writer to place Helen's abduction by Paris in Raclea, on the peninsula of Gallipoli. As he sails in, Buondelmonti sees on either side of the Hellespont countless pillars, the remains of past dwellings. The Gallipoli region is the scene of the story about the farmer who found a hoard of coins, which the Sultan, Murad I allowed him to keep. 22 The Bosporus, too, received little attention. In Constantinople Schiltberger noted down the story that this waterway was not a natural passage, but that the Bosporus had been dug by Alexander the Great. Some of the authors also mention Scutari, situated on the Asiatic shore, from where one could cross to Constantinople or Pera. 23 According to Pero Tafur it was on the Dardanelles at

OTHER PLACES ON THE

1~INLAND

193

the Tower of Vituperio that the events concerning Achilles and Patroclus took place. This tower may be the same one that de Lannoy locates as being in the vicinity of Gallipoli. 24

4. Other

pZace~

on the mainland

Because most of the travellers in Greek territory travelled by ship, Macedonia and Thrace were visited comparatively seldom, and hardly written about at all. In the Crusade chronicles, and also in the work of Mandeville, there is no more than a list of various places which were passed, without any details of the places being given. Only in the accounts by Schiltberger and Bertrandon de la Broquiere can any information be found about Adrianopolis, Trajanopolis, Serres and Aenus. Schiltberger calls Adrianopolis a large city with 50,000 houses, doubtless a figure meant to refer to a great mass. In 1362 Adrianopolis had passed into Turkish hands, and had become the sultan's European residence. This city, situated on the Maritza (=Hebrus) is described by Bertrandon as prosperous and densely populated; many western merchants had their offices there. In Trajanopolis the situation was quite different: there Bertrandon states that of the once great city at the mouth of the Hebrus nothing was left but rubble, with a ~ew people still living in the midst of it. In that place he mentions only one other thing: a spring or bath of 'holy' (curative?) water. During Baldwin I's battle against the Bulgarians in 1205 the city was laid waste, and it was never rebuilt; in the Byzantine period it had been a flourishing trading centre. 25 At Aenus, near Trajanopolis, Bertrandon saw an old sepulchral monument, a small tumulus·, believed by the Greeks to be that of Polydorus, the youngest son of Priam. At the time of the Trojan war he was sent to the Thracian king, Polymestor, with a large amount of gold; after the fall of Troy he was murdered by this same king for his money. 26 Because they were related in detail in the third book of the Aeneid these events had continued to be known about since antiquity. 27 I do not rule out the possibility that some familiarity with Vergil's text was what made Bertrandon take note of what was told him about the tumulus. A similar familiarity with names from ancient mythology may have been behind a remark by the Burgundian admiral Walerand de Wavrin, who not only wanted to visit Troy, but also noted that off the Black Sea coast at Mangalia there was

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a local tradition that the founding of the city went back to the Queen of the Amazons, Penthesilea. 28 This Penthesilea became very well known again in the middle ages because she was thought to be one of the 'neuf preuses', the female counterparts of the nine heroes - three pagans, three Jews and three Christians - who were held in high esteem in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, They were depicted in tapestries and took part in historical pageants, and were thus widely known. 29 Serres was an important place in Macedonia. Bertrandon places the battle between Caesar and Pompey in the vicinity of this city, although in fact it was fought at Pharsalus in Thessaly.

5. Ionian Islands Little information is given about the Ionian islands in the travel descriptions, although travellers who went by way of the Adriatic Sea usually put in briefly at one or more of these islands. Yet from the surviving accounts the rather precarious history of these islands in the middle ages can, to some extent, be followed. 30 Because the situation is not the same for the different islands, Kefallenia - Zakynthos, Ithaca - Leukas - Paxos and Corfu will be dealt with separately.

Kefallenia - Zakynthos Saewulf recounts that shortly before his journey in il02, the Norman leader, Robert Guiscard, had died on Kefallenia. This event, which took place in 1085, is also mentioned by Buondelmonti, although he says the death occurred on Zakynthos. 31 Shortly before 1204 the islands of Kefallenia and Zakynthos were already governed by western rulers. 32 In 1185 they were captured from the Byzantine emperors by the Normans from Southern Italy, and a few years later the young Matteo Orsini from Apulia laid the foundation there for a long dynasty. This was followed in 1357 by the Tocchi dynasty. 33 Cristoforo Buondelmonti was related to them, one of his aunts having married the count palatine Leonardo I Tocco. 3 ~ In ~4~4 at the beginning of his journey, Buondelmonti spent some time with his relations on this island. He describes Kefallenia and Zakynthos, but does not say anything about there.

Ithaca - Leucas - Paxos Buondelmonti's description of Val di Compare, the old Ithaca, is more interesting. It was a small, rocky island,

IONIAN ISLANDS

195

with a plain in the centre on which were a few houses and some overgrowth. Buondelmonti was conscious that he was on the island of Odysseus, for after giving a picture of the landscape with the two high hills he follows it immediately with the story of Odysseus. 35 Just before that, in his description of Epirus and the Mons Phalacrus situated there, he had mentioned a rock in the shape of a ship, which was supposed to bear a resemblance to the ship of Odysseus. It seems to me quite probable that he is influenced here by the thirteenth book of the Odyssey, which recounts how Poseidon changed the ship of the Phaeacians into a rock. 36 Buondelmonti has nothing particular to say about Leucas and Paxos. He does say that from Leucas there was a view of the nearby mainland, where one could still make out the remains of a temple of Apollo at Nicopolis - Actium amidst the 37 ruins of the city. Corfu The greatest interest is shown, in th.e travel accounts, in Corfu. Benjamin of Tudela describes how the influence of the king of Sicily stretched as far as Corfu, where there was only one single Jewish wool-dyer living. He is probably referring to the fact that until ~149 Corfu had been a part of the Norman empire of Southern Italy. The number of Jews, incidentally, increased greatly after the twelfth century; in 1431 Mariano da Siena saw 'molti Giuderi' there. Niccolo da Martoni visited the island in 1395, shortly after a change of rule, He says that the area formerly belonged to the Angevin empire of Naples, but that in his time the Venetians were in possession of the island. They had only recently established their authority there, for after the Angevin rule 38 they had not obtained the island, which was so favourably situated for shipping, until 1386. Until the downfall of Venice in 1798 (Napoleon!) the island of Corfu was to remain an important key-point for the Venetians. The city of Corfu was fairly large, according to Niccolo da Martoni; moreover, in a borgo, an extension built out beyond the walls, there were numerous shops and inns. The streets, however, were everywhere narrow and dirty, and most of the houses looked rather dilapidated. 39 Niccolo emphasizes the importance of the two harbours, which were protected by forts placed on the top of two steep hills. The same information is found in the account by Bertrandon de la Broquiere,

XIII. CENTRAL GREECE

1. Athens "Attika blieb beinahe vierhundert Jahre lang eine menschenleere Wliste. Die Gebaude der Stadt (Athen) fielen grossenteils zusammen, aus den Strassen wuchsen Baume, und die ganze Stadt wurde zuletzt ein Wald, ein Dickicht von Oelbaumen". This is how, in 1835, Jacob Fallmerayer described the state the city of Athens was in in the sixth to the tenth century. 1 This view was based on data which he found in a chronicle of the monks of the Anargyri monastery. Under pressure from the Slav invaders in Greece the Athenians were said to have retreated in the sixth century to Salamis. Their city was deserted and fell into decay; a great fire in 746 had completed the destruction. In these centuries, it was said, only the Acropolis was inhabited by a small group of people. 2 Fallmerayer's view was an exaggerated one, and the chronicle on which his opinion was based appeared upon further inspection to be a forgery. 3 Athens never did remain uninhabited for four hundred years, although all the evidence which has since become available does suggest that the Athens of the middle ages was small, poor and thinly populated. The city which in classical antiquity had been a much frequented cultural centre 4 had degenerated in the middle ages into a small, poverty-stricken settlement against the northern slope of the Acropolis. The stream of tourists, students and wealthy patrons 5 to which Athens owed much of her wealth had come to a halt. The exact point at which the decay set in cannot be established with certainty. It is in any case certain that in 267, when the city was captured and plundered by the Heruli, considerable damage took place, 6 The schools of philosophy still continued, however, to attract large numbers of foreigners. Judging by the slight expansion of the city during the fourth and fifth centuries there must have been some degree of recovery; 7 fortunately the attack by Alarik and his Goths in 395-6 passed the city 8 by. But it could no longer be said to be enjoying a real time of prosperity: the passage about Attica and Athens in the Expositio totius mundi et gentium, 9 as well as a few lines from the letters of Synesius, Bishop of Cyrene 10 (about 400), offer proof of this. For the city of Athens the closure of the pagan schools

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of philosophy in 529 resulted in the loss of all foreign contacts. On the local level Athens continued to have some importance both as a fortress - because of the Acropolis, which was a difficult site to capture - and as an ecclesiastical centre. 11 The cathedral church on the Acropolis (the Parthenon) must have occupied a position of importance, although no evidence of this has survived, In regional government, however, Athens played no part at all: in the Byzantine period the seat of government of the thema Hellas was at Thebes, and the strategus (governor) also took up residence in that city. In the Byzantine sources Athens is named only occasionally prior to 1204: Constans II visited the city in 662 on his journey to the south of Italy. 12 It was the birth-place of the Empress Irene (circa 800) and it also served as a place of banishment for such members of her family as she did not wish to remain in Constantinople, 13 a function which .was shared with Cherson on the Crimea and several places in Cyprus. The victory feast that Emperor Basil II held on the Acropolis in 1018-~9 to celebrate his victory over the Bulgarians 14 must have been a great event for the inhabitants of the little Attican provincial town. I do not rule out the possibility that it was precisely because the famous cathedral church was situated there that Athens was the place which was chosen. During the sixth and seventh centuries the Slav invasions of Attica can certainly not have passed by unnoticed, The surrounding countryside suffered the most damage; the Acropolis, however, was not captured, At a later date the Arabs from Crete also formed a constant threat. Kampouroglos is of the opinion that perhaps in 943, but probably even as early as 896-902, the city was invaded by Arab pirates roaming far from their base. 15 The Norman invasion of 1146, from which Thebes and Corinth suffered so heavily, probably passed Athens by, perhaps because the city was so unimportant and could not provide much in the way of loot. 16 In Arab sources Athens is mentioned several times in the period from the ninth to the twelfth century. The ancient fame of the schools of philosophy appears to have penetrated to the Arab world: both the Persian geographical treaty HudUd al-'Alam (982) and the work of the geographer Ibn Hauqal (circa 970) contain a reference to ancient times when Athens was the centre of Greek philosophy and the repository of the culture of Hellas. Such purely literary data is quite useless

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as a description of medieval Athens; the same is true of the passage devoted to Athens by the geographer Idrisi in his work, which appeared in about the middle of the twelfth century. Idrisi writes that the city was densely populated and surrounded by gardens and fertile fields. This seems to me to be a description of Athens in ancient times, when the city was rich and prosperous, for the picture evoked by such few contemporary sources as there are is a totally different one. In the accounts of western travellers of pre-1204 Athens is of no importance at all. Benjamin of Tudela did not visit the city on his wanderings through Greece, by contrast with places such as Thebes, Patras and Corinth which he did visit. The only evidence about Athens consists of one line in the travel account of the Anglo-Saxon pilgrim Saewulf. 17 In 1102 he travelled through Greece, partly by ship, partly on foot or on a donkey. He visited Patras and Corinth (August 9) and from there travelled overland to Negropontum (August 23). The remark that Athens was two days' journey from Corinth does not make it clear whether Saewulf visited that city or not. The amount of time between the August 9 and August 23 does not, however, rule out a visit to Athens. From Negropontum Saewulf continued his journey across the Archipelago by way of Rhodes and Cyprus to Palestine.~ 8 His story is interesting because a large number of places and islands are mentioned, which the author often connects with the Bible and with various apostles and saints. About Athens he has only two things of interest to say: that was where St. Dionysius 19 had lived and had been converted by St. Paul and there was also a church of St. Mary in which a lamp always burned without ever running out of oil. Nothing more is said about the city, its glorious past or its cathedral (Parthenon). Only the legend of the everburning lamp, which he could have heard on the way or in the c~ty itself, is mentioned by him as being of any importance. Such tales about lamps which. went on burning 'eternally' were not unusual in medieval Greece. In the fifteenth century the German pilgrim Felix Faber mentioned a similar phenomenon in a church dedicated to Mary on the coast of Epirus; 20 in churches and palaces in Constantinople there is sometimes a glow or light effect which lights up the whole building at night. 21 The stories about this glowing effect (usually caused by the afterglow of some semi-precious stone) generally originate, like those about ever-burning lamps, in classical antiquity. 22 They occur several times in classical literature: in a piece of writing about precious stones,

200

CENTRAL GREECE

ascribed to Orpheus, ~L&Lxa 23 it is said tha~ the lychnic (carbuncle) has the property of glowing in the dark, and passages in Aelianus 24 and Psellus 25 also deal with this subject. Nor were 'eternally-burning' lamps unknown in 26 antiquity. In his Scholica graecarum glossarum Martinus of Laon refers to 'candelabrum illud Theodosianum', a lamp which, thanks to an ingenious device, could burn for a long time without needing attention. What lay behind this information may have been a passage in the Historia ecclesiastica by Sozomenus. 27 Although 'illud' refers to something that is generally known, no such allusions or references are to be found in the work of other authors. Saewulf is not the only traveller to mention this light phenomenon in Athens; several centuries later Niccolo da Martoni was to see a shining patch on one of the walls of the Parthenon, which he explained as being the place where a saint had been buried behind the wall. 28 We shall probably never know exactly what it was that Saewulf and Niccolo da Martoni saw. Perhaps it was one of the two windows noticed by Galland and Spon in the seventeenth century, which had been shut off by means of thin slabs of Cappadocian marble: daylight shone through them into the church as a pale pink glow. 29 Saewulf's account is typical of the mentality of the majority of medieval travellers: now and again their attention was caught for a moment by some small and insignificant detail, but the greater whole they passed by without comment. While hardly any data has survived about events in Athens in the early middle ages, the situation in the last years preceding the Frankish conquest is fairly well documented. The letters of the learned Archbishop Michael Choniates 30 provide innumerable details about the state of affairs in the city. Again and again Michael stood up for his Athenians, attempting to protect them against extortion, excessive taxes, pirates, the billeting of troops, etc. It is not surprising that after his death Michael was regarded as a saint by the local population. 31 On the other hand the inhabitants of Athens had difficulty in understanding this man who, the very first time he addressed them, in 1182, 32 compared them to the Athenians of old and praised their city for its former glories. The simple purpura fishers and soap producers had enough difficulty in providing for their everyday needs; the Attican soil was too bare and rocky for crops or cattle; and other, more lucrative activities, such as the silk industry in Patras, Corinth and Thebes, were non-existent in

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Athens. 33 The praise of the new Archbishop for the glory of ancient Athens was then, for them ~n OUVETa. The Athenians of Michael's time lived in the midst of the monuments of antiquity, but these meant nothing to them; on the Agora cattle grazed among the ruins. 34 Michael himself was one of the few people in the city who was concerned with cultural and intellectual activities. Besides his many archiepiscopal duties 35 he also studied, copied manuscripts and built up a private library. There are indications that during this period manuscripts again came to be copied in Athens. 36 In view of Michael's activities we cannot rule out the possibility that John of Basingstoke did indeed study in Athens in the last years of the twelfth century, even though the legend about the learned young woman, Constantina, continues to pose many problems. 37 After 1204 Michael's care of Athens came to an enforced end. Soon after he had successfully repulsed an attack by the Greek pirate Leo Sgouros he had to relinquish the city to the Frankish knights of the Fourth Crusade. Without offering any resistance - Michael realized that this would not help anyway - he handed the city over to Bonifatius of Montferrat and went into exile in Keos, where he died in about 1222. Othon de la Roche from Burgundy became the new Frankish lord of the Acropolis, and Michael was succeeded by the Latin Archbishop Berardus. 38 During the taking of the city the Parthenon was plundered, but remained outwardly undamaged. Michael's carefully accumulated library was dispersed; in later years, however, he was able to buy back some part of it. 39 The Frankish conquest again shows how unimportant Athens was at that time. When the conquered territory was divided between the Crusaders and the Venetians Athens did not fall into Venetian hands, even though the city of the Doges claimed as many as possible of the good harbours and the places which were important for trade (Patras, Modon, Ionian islands, Negropontum, Aegina, etc.) Moreover, Athens was given in fee to Othon de la Roche, a little-known and unimportant nobleman. The fact that soon after 1209 the Latin clerus had to be compelled to minister in person in the Parthenon and the other churches, and to live in Athens, shows just how unattractive living in that city must have been, Even the archbishop moved, after a short time, to Negropontum! 40 The conquest of Athens undoubtedly made the city better known in the west of Europe, but there is no trace of any special interest; a strange situation now grew up, in which

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CENTRAL GREECE

two totally different views of the city of Athens came to exist side by side. The most widespread, which was already in existence before 1204, among the Arabs as well, is based upon Ziterary data in the Bible and in the work of classical authors; according to this view Athens is an important city with a glorious past. It is, moreover, the city where St. Paul conducted his famous argument about the unknown god. 41 In a letter to Berardus in 1209, Pope Innocent III speaks of the fame of the city in the field of philosophy and literature. This is the element which is also emphasized in the descriptions by Wilhelm von Boldensele and Ludolf von Sudheim: Athens is the 'mater philosophiae', the city where once the 'studium graecorum' flourished. This view was longlived: it is still found in the fifteenth century in several Catalan texts. 42 The Arab author Aboulfeda (circa 1300) also expressed this view. This literary-based idea, which spread through large parts of Europe and of the Arab world, was, however, completely removed from the reality of the situation in which the city of Athens led an inconspicious existence under a succession of Burgundian nobles, Catalan mercenaries and Florentine dukes. The true state of affairs did not penetrate very far: Ludolf makes some passing reference to it in his travel account, when he writes that the city is 'nunc quasi deserta'. It appears, however, that he did not go there himself. The same applies to the passage in the writing of the French pilgrim d'Anglure, who, in 1395, said of Athens: 'A environ xx miles pres fut jadis la noble cite de Athenes qui est a present toute destruicte, et siet en la Moree' . 43 This remark, which was not based upon personal observation, was not correct, as appears from the detailed report left by the Italian notary Niccolo da Martoni of his visit to Athens in the same year. The latter speaks of ruins, remains of great buildings, pillars and statues. Some of the ancient structures were still in good condition at the time of his visit, however, such as the cathedral on the Acropolis and the ducal palace that was built into the Propylaea. The description by Niccolo da Martoni gives an impression of a far from flourishing city, full of ruins; his wanderings did not take him through the whole of the city, but did include the most important places. This description, the first to be written in the middle ages about a visit to Athens by a western European, shows clearly the destruction to which the ancient buildings of Athens had already been exposed for many centuries. This deterioration had begun in late antiquity:

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in the early years of the fifth century Theodosius II had innumerable works of art and valuable building materials transported to Constantinople. His example was followed a century later by Justinian I: Athens provided material too, for the construction of the Hagia Sophia. 44 Moreover, all sorts of reminders of pagan cults were diligently destroyed by the Christians. In this period the great statue of Athena Promachos disappeared, and other ancient statues were also removed; their places were often taken by statues of saints. 45 The raids by Genoese mentioned by Ludolf von Sudheim completed the picture of demolition and plunder. Only such ancient monuments as had acquired a new function in the Christian religion, like the Parthenon and Theseion, which were converted into churches, were thereby saved from destruction. 46 Many small new churches were built, perhaps with the use of plundered materials. 47 Other ancient monuments, which were not Christianized, fell further and further into decay as the years went by. Of the Olympieion nothing was left by the end of the fourteenth century but about twenty columns (of the 366:), the Stoa of Attalus had disappeared, the Agora was apparently full of innumerable ancient remains and the antique gates and cemeteries (Dipylon, for example) were, by then buried deep under the sand. The impression that the city was in complete ruins continued, however, for a long time in western Europe. In about 1485 the Belgian traveller Josse van Ghistele passed the city by because there was said to be nothing to see there but ruins, and he was not alone in this belief. 48 Even in the sixteenth century this idea still continued. 49 A Word remains to be said about the western rulers in Athens. Just as the local population displayed little interest in the glorious past, and the city of Athens exerted no attraction for people travelling through Greek territory, so, too, the rulers, originating from France, Spain and Italy, showed no particular interest in the city's centuries - old past. Othon de la Roche naturally installed himself in the safest and most comfortable place, in the palace at the entrance to the Acropolis. There in 1209, he received the Latin Emperor Henry when the latter paid a two-day visit to the city in the course of a round of visits to his various vassals. Together they attended a service of thanksgiving in the cathedral, the Parthenon, but apart from the mere mention of this fact nothing more is said by the chronicler, Henri de Valenciennes. 50

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CENTRAL GREECE

Othon de la Roche used as a counterseal of his family seal an antique Greek gem, portraying three putti with a large dog; to my mind this fact should not be seen as the expression of a preference for antique objects. Miller believes Othon to have acquired this seal stone during the plundering of Constantinople, or to have bought the stone in Thebes. 51 I prefer not to rule out the possibility of the stone having been found in Athens. It is certain that Othon found the scene portrayed on it attractive; whether, however, he was aware of the age and origin of his seal stone, I leave to doubt. Apart from the fact that one of Othon's relations, Nicolas de la Roche, canon of Athens, erected a stone construction on the top of one of the columns of the Olympieion, to which to retreat as a hermit, 52 no further information can be found about the city at the time of the Burgundian rulers. In archives or other sources there is no information available about this period in the history of Athens, the Greek population or the Greek monuments·. Rubi6 y Lluch once said, in this connection, that it was just as if the Greeks had been completely banned from the history of their own country. 53 In 1311 the battle of the Cephisus freed Athens from Burgundian rule and brought the city into the hands of the Catalan Company. Spanish rule was to last until 1388, and, by comparison with the Burgundian one which preceded it and the Florentine one which followed, this period of Athenian history is comparatively well-known. As a result of indefatigable activity on the part of the Spanish scholar Rubi6 y Lluch a great deal of material about Catalan Greece which has been preserved in the archives of the Crown of Aragon has come to light. 54 As a result a great deal has come to be known about the political, religious, social and 55 economic life of fourteenth-century Athens. In particular Rubi6 y Lluch has tried to show that the Catalans were not only notorious pirates, but that inland government functioned reasonably well in the Catalan period, 56 Nowhere, however, is anything said in the Catalan documents about the monuments which had come down from antiquity. Only those of the ancient edifices that had obtained a new function in the Burgundian period - and sometimes even as early as the Byzantine period are occasionally mentioned, The Catalan governors resided in the Palau, the palace that was incorporated into the Propylaea. The old picture gallery was used by them as the Cappella de San Bartomeu, 57 and the Parthenon was known to the Catalans

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as the Seu de Santa Maria de Cetines. This monumental old building did undoubtedly attract attention, but not as a monument that at that time already had behind it a history of some 1750 years. Interest was directed towards quite different matters, as is illustrated by a le~ter from Queen Sibilia of Aragon to the Archbishop of Athens, Antoni Ballester. 58 In this she mentions 'els miracles y piadoses tradicions, la riquesa de mosaichs y vasos sagrats, les reliquies dels sants' and asks Ballester to send her some relics from among the treasures of the church of Santa Maria de Cetines. 59 Athens was not, however, of great importance to the Catalans, as can be seen from the fact that in the great 60 Catalan atlas of 1375 the city is not even mentioned. Just as Burgundian feudal lords had done, so the Catalans also attempted to preserve their western way of life in Greece as far as possible. The contacts between the small Catalan upper class 61 and the local population thus remained few and non-committal although it cannot be denied that a few reasonably educated Greeks were employed by the government in administrative posts, 62 The gulf caused by the difference in languages, religion and culture was, however, seldom bridged, From the Greek side little influence can, then, have been exerted upon the Spanish rulers. As a result existing local traditions hardly spread at all beyond the Greek community. Not only were the contacts of the Catalans with the local population very limited, but relationships with other western rulers who had settled in Greece seem not to have been very intensive. The Catalans' reputation as pirates and their behaviour in the first years after they had established themselves in Attica undoubtedly contributed to this isolation. Against this background it is easier to see why Ludolf von Sudheim gave Athens a wide berth, and why in 1366 Amadeus VI of Savoy sailed past the coast of Attica but did not put in to land at Piraeus. The picture Ludolf gives of Athens is one of decay, plunder and destruction. In the mid-fourteenth century that view of the city was the one that was propagated, and nobody felt any inclination to go and test it against reality! Right at the end of the Catalan rule some interest arose at court for the far off Greek possessions. In about 1380 Pedro IV el Ceremonioso expressed praise of the Acropolis, and in 1387 Juan I conceived the plan of visiting his Greek

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territory. 63 This did not lead, however, to any deeper interest, for on May 2 1388, after a siege of many months, the Acropolis fell into the hands of the Florentine Nerio I Acciajuoli. 64 With the arrival of the Acciajuoli as lords of Athens the city entered upon a period of renewed life. Innumerable buildings that had fallen into decay were rebuilt and embellished, and gradually Athens began to win back her influence over Thebes. One new development was that the local Greek population were involved more and more by the Florentines in the government of their city. 65 Undoubtedly it was the political insight of the Acciajuoli rulers that led them to take this step. The population of westerners was after all too small, and the city was threatened from several different sides. Harmonious co-operation between Greeks and Latins was therefore a matter of necessity. The groups of marauding Turks mentioned by Niccolo da Martoni in 1395 soon joined forces with each other; in about 1397 the lower part of the city of Athens seems to have been occupied for a while by the Turks. 66 At that time Athens was - for a short spell - not under an Acciajuoli but under the command of a Venetian government official, because in 1394 Nerio I had indirectly bequeathed the government of Athens to the city of the Doges, in his will. 67 It was only some years later, in 1402, that another member of the family, Antonio Acciajuoli, managed to get himself recognized as ruler of Athens. His government and those of his successors remained, however, strongly dependent on both the Venetians and the Turks. In 1456 the Latin duchy came to an end: the last Latin ruler, Franco Acciajuoli, was ousted from the government of Athens by the Turks, and was given Thebes in fee in its place. Whether the stronghold fell into Turkish hands in that same year, or only two years later, is still a disputed question. 68 The travel account of Niccolo da Martoni dates from the early years of the Florentine rule. He visited the city just at the time that the bequest of Nerio I was being disputed. This account, the first detailed account of a visit to Athens by a foreigner from the West, is, in spite of its limitations, extremely valuable. In the first place, it gives a picture of what still remained in the way of antique monuments; it also strikes one that Ludolf von Sudheim's unfavourable opinion of Athens was only partly justified. There was indeed decay, and many buildings were in ruins, but

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on the other hand there were quite a lot of buildings dating from antiquity which were still in a good state of preservation. Niccolo looks at them with interest because this is Athens, and also because it is old. He would not have made a special journey just to see them, but the fame of the ancient city of Athens is still so great, for him, that he looked around it with interest and listened to what people had to tell him about it. Through him various traditions have become known to us, and their connections with particular monuments. For the very reason that in the Florentine period there was some contact between the Greek and the Latin population I believe that these traditions should not be seen merely as western inventions, but rather as authentic Greek traditions. It appears from Niccolo's account that by the middle ages the famous events of Marathon and Salamis had already faded into oblivion, but that the names of famous Athenian citizens and philosophers were still associated with various old temples, palaces and theatres. Most of the ancient structures were referred to as schola or palatium. 69 Several decades after the journey of Niccolo da Martoni the Acciajuoli rulers provided lodging for another Italian: in 1436 (April 7 - 22) and again in 1444 the city of Athens was visited by Cyriacus of Ancona. 70 On the second occasion he travelled in company with the brother of the Duke of Athens. On both occasions he was hospitably received by Duke Nerio II in the palace in the Propylaea. 71 Cyriacus was enthralled by the many remains of antiquity, and he described and drew any number of monuments, copied inscriptions and collected ancient coins and gems. His approach can no longer be described as medieval, but as humanistic. 72 For him the antiquities form the main purpose of his journey, and a few years later he even goes back again to be able to look at them for a further two weeks or more. Perhaps his attitude, so different from that of most medieval travellers, can best be illustrated by a small detail: Cyriacus is the first person for centuries to speak of the Temple of Pallas Athena which. was built by Phidias; 73 he also calls the citadei Acropolis again, instead of Castrum. By comparison with the sparse information about Athens in medieval descriptions, the observations of Cyriacus of Ancona are of greater importance not only because of their quantity, but also their quality. But it must not be forgotten that the medieval notes. came into being at a time when ancient culture was still hardly thougth of as a basis for contemporary culture.

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If in spite of this a number of individuals do pay some attention to the remains of antiquity their testimony is then all the more deserving of our full attention.

2. Piraeus - Porto Rafti In the years that the city of Athens was so unimportant the harbour did not particularly flourish either, thought it may be assumed that the harbour of Piraeus continued to be used for fishing and also for various trading activities. 74 In the middle ages the old name had been forgotten; the harbour was known to western captains, from about the fourteenth century onwards, as Porta Leone, or else - especially on Italian sea charts- as Lion. 75 The immense antique marble lion, with the runic inscription 76 which was added later, was behind this name, being the most characteristic thing about the place. The lion on the beach at Piraeus was one of three antique marble lions in Athens and its surroundings. 77 In medieval descriptions Piraeus is not mentioned; Cyriacus of Ancona is the first person to mention not only the lion but also the remains of old walls and towers. 78 The tradition that an ancient grave was said to be that of the Athenian statesman Themistocles is not found in any writer prior to the seventeenth century. 79 Niccolo da Martoni did not land at Piraeus, but at a place on the east coast of Attica, about twenty-five miles from Athens. 80 We do not know what name this place- the present day Porta Rafti - was known by at the end of the fourteenth century; Niccolo merely speaks of alium portum Acthenarum. The first mention of the name Porta Rafti is found in the Itinerarium maritimum of 1570: 'la conoscenza dell '!sola di Rafti e una statua grande di marmo, che tiene in mano un paio di forbici, e si vede lontano m. 30 in mare' . 81 In 1395 Niccolo mentioned two statues, and associated them with a medieval tradition. One of these figures has since disappeared; of the other there are still some remains, but the interpretation of these remains has led to rather varied conclusions. The by Ross a.o. propagated view is that the statue, which was some 2.35 m high, represented the figure of a woman. 82 This statue, which dated from the early Antonine period and which may possibly have been used as a lighthouse, is said to have been a statue of Oikoumene, with the light in the mural crown on her head. The attribute which is interpreted as a pair of scissors was probably a sheaf of corn. This interpretation was thought to be borne out by the

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discovery in the neighbourhood of a small bronze statue of Oikoumene dressed in a himation. 83 But quite recently the Colossus of Porta Rafti has been subjected to fresh research by Stephen Miller. 84 He goes back to the idea that the statue is the figure of a man, dressed in a chlamys; he believes it to be the statue of an emperor, not from the Hadrianic early Antonine time, but from the period round about 200 A.D. The statue would then have been made elsewhere (in Attica, perhaps), and only much later transported to the island off Porta Rafti, so that at such times as Athens could not use the harbour of Piraeus it could serve as a beacon, or perhaps as a lighthouse. The period Miller suggests for it being moved is the time when Michael Choniates was resident in Athens as Archbishop (1182-1204). There is a good deal to be said for Miller's new interpretation, especially as he has made a close inspection of the statue and its base. Niccolo da Martoni only saw it in the distance, at dusk; the author of the Itinerarium Maritimum probably simply followed the existing local tradition; and Vermeule fell in with Ross' interpretation of the statue as being that of a woman. Unfortunately it is no longer possible to know with absolute certainty, because in the meantime the statue has suffered so much as a result of time and weather that many of the details have been lost. On one point, however, I entirely disagree with Miller: he claims that it is because the statue was only put up in Porta Rafti in about 1200 that the first mention of it is not found until 1.395, in Niccolo da .Martoni. 8 5 His optimistic view of the number of medieval sources referring to antique monuments from the period prior to about 1200 is something I do not share! I consider it more likely that it was placed there during antiquity.

3. EZeusis - Megara Niccolo da Martoni is the only traveller to mention Megara and Eleusis in his account. In Eleusis he saw, spread over a wide area, innumerable ruins, the remains of walls, pillars, pieces of marble, etc. Moreove~ he also saw a large arch-like construction, similar to the aqueducts familiar to him from Italy. What he saw was probably a Roman four arch bridge across a former bed of the Cephisus. All he says about Megara is that it was a small fort on the plain, with an estimated 80 homes. 86

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4. Sounion On innumerable occasions the tall columns of the temple of Cape Sounion must have caught the attention of passing ships. For seamen they formed a familiar beacon on their way along the Attic coast; for many centuries the cape has been known in seafaring circles as Capo delle Colonne. This name is already found on a coastal map from the beginning of the fourteenth century. 87 People travelling by sea could only land in the area with some difficulty and in any case the presence of a number of pillars was not sufficiently attractive in the middle ages to make it worthwhile travelling for many kilometres through inhospitable mountain country. Thus the first descriptions of the temple only date from the sixteenth century. 88 The visit of Count Amadeus VI of Savoy in 1366 gave rise to no more than a brief mention.

5. Thebes Thebes was the most important place in central Greece, both in the Byzantine period and in the Latin period which followed. In Byzantine times the civil and military government of the whole area- the thema Hellas- was there. 89 The city was visited by Saewulf, but he did not leave any description of it. Yet Benjamin of Tudela's travel account shows the importance of the city: according to him there were 2000 Jews living there in the twelfth century, most of them involved in the production of silk and purple garments. Benjamin does not state the numbers of Greek inhabitants, but there were undoubtedly far more of them. Not only did trade and industry flourish in Thebes, but the Jews in the city were also very busy in the field of scholarship. Benjamin writes that nowhere in the Greek empire, with the exception of Constantinople, were so many eminent Talmudists to be found. The city's inland position probably contributed to its growth and prosperity. Thebes was, after all, much less vulnerable to attacks by pirates wandering about the Archipelago than were places nearer to the coast. 90 Because of this agriculture and industry were able to develop there undisturbed. In the Catalan period, too, Thebes was the most important place in central Greece; the city was regarded 'quasi caput et magistra', and it was from Thebes, too, that Athens was governed. 91 In 1371 panic suddenly broke out in Latin Greece as a result of the defeat of the Serbs by the Turks. Plans

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were immediately formed to make a joint stand against the danger that was now threatening from the north. In 1373, at the instigation of Pope Gregory XI, all the Christian Latin rulers were to meet in the centrally situated city of Thebes, to draw up a plan of action. Because of quarrels and mutual mistrust this whole undertaking came to nothing. 92 In the course of the fifteenth century the influence of Thebes slowly declined. In about 1390 it lost its position as the centre of government when the new rulers, the Acciajuoli, took up residence in Athens, and with all its possibilities for trade and shipping Athens came to outstrip Thebes in power and in status. When the last Acciajuoli ruler of Athens was deposed by the Turks, he was given Thebes in its stead, but after a rule of only a few years this city, too, came under Turkish rule.

6. Corinth - Isthmus In the middle ages the harbour town of Corinth experienced alternating periods of prosperity and decay. After the dark days of the sixth to the eighth centuries, when as a result of invasions by Slavonic tribes and the resulting unrest the city had suffered much in terms of prosperity and influence, the early years of the ninth century brought a definite recovery. Just as Thebes became the most important place in the thema Hellas, so Corinth was the place where the military and civil rule of the thema Peloponnesos was established. Clear proof of this revival is provided by coins discovered there: under Emperor Theophilus (829-42) there must have been a great increase in the quantity of copper currency, a sign that a new period of trade and business activity had begun. 93 As well as the textile industry the glass industry enjoyed a period of great growth up to the middle of the twelfth century. 94 During the Norman invasion of 1147, led by Roger of Sicily, Corinth was intensively looted; the city was never to recover completely from this catastrophe. 95 It is possible that Idrisi's description of Corinth as a large and populous city was true of the situation in his time (before 1147). The passage about the diolkos, however, suggests something that happened in antiquity; I do not therefore rule out the possibility that the passage is based on a literary source as is probably also the case with the descriptions of Athens and of Sparta. With the Latin conquest, after 1204 the city came into the hands of Geoffroy de Villehardouin; in the

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thirteenth century Corinth was one of the harbours of the principality of Achaea, but played no part of any importance. Little is known of the period of Latin rule; there is just one event which is of interest, when in 1305 the western rulers of the Morea organized a spectacular tournament on the Isthmus, which was probably an unconscious imitation of the old Isthmian Games. 96 In the middle ages Corinth was a place which was widely known outside Greek territory because of St. Paul's preaching there, as described in the Acts of the Apostles, 97 and his Epistles to the Corinthians. This is the only aspect of the city Saewulf mentions, when he stays there for a short time during his pilgrimage. Benjamin of Tudela gives some idea of the size of the city: he counted three hundred Jews, a small number in comparison with the 2,000 in Thebes, but still a sign that trade and industry were not entirely non-existent. Ludolf von Sudheim recalls, of course, the Epistles of St. Paul, and goes on to say that the city, situated as it was on.a mountain, was a practically impregnable stronghold; but there is some doubt as to whether he ever actually saw the city himself. In 1358 the government of Corinth was transferred from the house of Anjou to Niccolo Acciajuoli. Under the active rule of the Acciajuoli, originally bankers and merchants from Florence, the trading city of Corinth flourished again, but when in 1387-8 Nerio I conquered Athens, Thebes and Livadia, the residence was immediately moved from the Acrocorinth to the Acropolis. 98 In those same years, round about l390, the first of the Turkish attacks under Bajazet took place in the Morea. The strong fortress of Corinth managed to resist the attack, but from then on the almost permanent threat from the Turks hindered further development. A second negative factor was the internal struggle between the Latin rulers at the end of the fourteenth century; Niccolo da Martoni provides detailed inf9rmation about this struggle. Towards the end of the fourteenth century there seem to have been different stories in circulation for Niccolo begins his passage with the remark that in contrast to all the untrue things that are being said, he will now give the true facts, based on his own observation. Some knowledge of the events of antiquity does appear to exist in Corinth in 1395, even though facts that are correct in themselves are not associated with the right people. Nothing, at this time, seems to be known about

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Corinth's earliest history; Niccolo's informants attribute the foundation of the city of King Alexander. The ruins of the city on the plain could still be seen. Niccolo estimates it as being about ten miles in circumference, and judging by what still remained of the city he expresses the opinion that the old city of Corinth must have been extremely beautiful. Its capture and devastation by the Romans (146 B.C.) does not seem to be entirely forgotten, but people do not seem to be capable of placing even this event in a clear historical framework. Niccolo's opinion of the Corinth of his time, a fortified town situated on two mountain tops, is definitely unfavourable. The city was smaller than the former one (about 2 miles round) and within a few lines Niccolo uses the word 'turpis' three times, once for the walls, once for the houses and once for the fortress. Moreover, he notices many open spaces inside the walls, which indicated depopulation and decay. The number of homes (or houses) in Corinth he estimates at only 500. What Niccolo says in his account is supported by what Pero Tafur said 40 years later in connection with Corinth. He did not visit the city himself, and must have obtained his information by hearsay. He, too, speaks of an old city where there were still some beautiful buildings to be seen, but which was seriously depopulated and had fallen into decay. Perhaps it was because he found the city unattractive that Niccolo da Martoni does not give a separate description of any single building. He merely mentions his visit to a church dedicated to St. Paul. The ten columns of the temple of Juno, then still standing, are not even mentioned.99 The Isthmus, situated near Corinth, attracted the attention both of Niccolo da Martoni and of Pero Tafur. Both travellers refer to the plans which were made in antiquity for digging right across this neck of land, and both of them mention the six-mile-long wall built across the Isthmus for the protection of the Morea. Niccolo attributed the canal project to King Alexander, who had not been able to carry out the plan because the ground was too rocky; Pero Tafur believed the plan to have been thought of by a Byzantine emperor, but that his counsellers had advised him against it. Idrisi, who had already mentioned the wall at an earlier date, attributed it to a Roman emperor. 100 The plans of Caesar and of Nero thus lived on in people's memories, perhaps for the very reason that traces of the digging work were still visible in the area.

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In 1395 the wall across the Isthmus was still partly intact, but partly decayed. 101 This wall, originally built by Justinian I in about 551 was to be completely rebuilt shortly afterwards, within a month, in April to May 1415, under Manuel 11 Palaeologus. Because of the urgency of the rebuilding, due to the serious threat of a Turkish invasion, large-scale use was made of antique materials. Many of the remains of ancient Corinth must have found their way into the wall at this time. 102 Yet all these efforts were of no avail, for several years later (in 1422) the Turks broke through the fortifications anyway, and large parts of the Isthmus wall again fell into decay. That was the situation in which Cyriacus of Ancona found th.e wall in 1437. 1 0 3 Pero Tafur' s statement that the Morea was shut off by a strong, still visible wall was thus no longer true; his informants were talking about how it had been in former times: Corinth passed into the hands of the Turks in the same year as Athens. In August 1458, after strong resistance by Michael Asen, the Acrocorinth was finally captured by the Turks.

7. Patras Little is known about the city of Patras in the centuries previous to ~204. Like Corinth, the city must have suffered severely from the Slav attacks, but nevertheless remained in existence. 104 With the return of the Greek refugees from Southern Italy and Sicily in the ninth century Patras, too, had once again a good sized population, 105 but it never became a very big place. Benjamin of Tudela saw some large old buildings there, and counted fifty Jews among the inhabitants. In these centuries the textile weaving and carpet factories must have been a good source of income; the name of the immensely wealthy widow Danielis 106 (ninth century) who was in charge of great weaving sheds and owned thousands of slaves, is well-known. Patras was not entirely unknown in western Europe; the city is not specifically mentioned in the Bible, but according to later traditions the apostle Andrew was said to have preached in Patras, and to have been martyred there. 107 This is mentioned by Saewulf, who went to the city 'causa orandi'. He adds that some time after St. Andrew's death the body was taken to Constantinople, where, in his day, it was venerated. Here he mentions another tradition to the effect that in the middle of the fourth

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century in order to put Constantinople on an equal footing with Rome, Constantius II had the remains of the brother of St. Peter brought to the new capital. As the first apostle to be called, St. Andrew was greatly venerated, especially in the eastern churches. 108 Benjamin of Tudela mentions a tradition about the founding of the city; he says the founder was Antipater, one of Alexander the Great's generals. This legend, which was incorrect, but particularly current in Jewish circles, was based on a chronicle called the Josipon, 109 and probably arose because of the similarity in sound between Antipater and Patras. It is not clear to me what Ludolf von Sudheim means when, after speaking of the suffering and martyrdom of St. Andrew he claims that St. Anthony and many other saints originally came from Patras. Probably his informants laid on this pious story for him; or else he mistook the place. In any case he did not visit the city of Patras, any more than he did Athens or Corinth. Niccolo da Martoni's account contains more interesting information, He visited Patras in 1395, and because there was no inn he stayed with the Latin archbishop, The latter was the most important person in the city, for after the city had passed as a barony into the hands of Waiter Aleman in 1204, the barony was sold to the archbishop in 1266 for 16,000 hyperpera, by one of Aleman's successors who wished to return to his country of origin. 110 The city remained under ecclesiastical rule until 1430, The Archbishops were appointed by the Pope, and were officially subordinate to the princes of Achaea, but with the support of the Pope and financial assistance from the Acciajuoli family they managed to maintain their independence. 111 It may be assumed that as ruler the Archbishop would live in one of the finest houses 112 in the city; he probably resided inside the old fortress. Although Angelo II Acciajuoli, a brother of Nerio I was appointed as archbishop in 1394 he was only able to take office in about 1400. Niccolo probably visited his predecessor, Cornaro, who worked in Patras from 1394 onward, 113 On the walls of the great hall of the archbishop's palace Niccolo saw a painting running all the way round the room, which showed the Sack of Tray. Such a picture fits in well with what we know of wall decoration in Byzantine palaces. It was customary to depict all sorts of heroic deeds, both from contemporary times and from former history, on the

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walls. Michael VIII had his victory over Charles of Anjou at Berat (1287) painted on the walls of the Blachernae palace. 114 As well as battle scenes successful hunting parties and victories in games in the Hippodrome might also be subjects for illustration. 115 There was also a rich repertoire of Bible scenes available, and all kinds of themes from classical mythology. This is seen extremely well in the medieval epic, Digenis Akritas, 116 where a palace on the Euphrates is described. The palace itself is fictional, but in his description the poet undoubtedly took as his starting point what he saw around him. The two dining halls were decorated with gold mosaics, in which besides biblical scenes (episodes from the life of Samson, David and his fight against Goliath) one could also see the heroic deeds of Achilles, Agamemnon and Helen, Penelope and the suitors, Odysseus' adventure with the Cyclop, Bellerophon and the Chimaira, the victories of Alexander the Great and the flight of Darius. This is the context in which the painting of the Ilioupersis in the palace of the Archbishop of Patras should be seen. When the painting was done we can no longer tell, but I believe it to date from one of the reconstructions in the Latin period, for the old archiepiscopal palace was pulled down in about 12~0 by William Aleman, in connection with the building of the fortress. 117 How the figures engaged in ~he battle of Troy are depicted on the walls of the palace of Patras is not known for certain. Most probably they were dressed, according to the medieval custom, as thirteenth century knights. That is how Joshua and his men were shown in the battle against Amorites in the pictures in the chapel of the Frankish castle of Geraki, to the east of Sparta. 118 A similar adaptation of costume and weapons would also seem probable in the case of the Ilioupersis. Without the few lines from Niccolo da Martoni nothing would have been known of the Ilioupersis in Patras. From it two conclusions can be drawn: that the rich decoration of palaces was not restricted to Constantinople, but that there was also interest in other Greek cities for this sort of painting; and also that not only wealthy Byzantines, but also Latin rulers, liked to see pictures such as these, borrowed from Greek mythology, on the walls of their houses. In about 1450, only shortly after it had come under Palaeologian rule in ~430, the city was conquered by the Turks. The fortress held out for some time, but in 1458 was forced to capitulate to Muhammed II.

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B. Euboea - Negropontum Close to the mainland, but separated from it by fastflowing water, Euboea offered its inhabitants the advantages of living on an island, together with the possibility of frequent contact with the mainland. Procopius 119 in the sixth century, wrote that the inhabitants of Euboea could establish or break their connection with the mainland at will, by means of a long beam, According to Benjamin of Tudela the city of Negropontum - the former Chalcis - was visited by merchants from all over the place. 120 He estimated the number of Jews there as two hundred, which indicates that there was some degree of industrial activity in Euboea in the twelfth century. Because of its position in central Greece, when the territories captured in 1204 were divided up the island was very attractive to the Venetians. They claimed the island, and there they established the base from which they exercised their power in the Archipelago. The baile of Negropontum was one of the highest Venetian officers in the whole of Greece, with control over most of the Venetian settlements in the area, Only the Venetian colony in Constantinople fell outside his authority. The city and the island must have been visited by innumerable western travellers during the middle ages, but Niccolo da Martoni is the only traveller - author to have paid any attention to Negropontum. He describes a prosperous island, with fine churches and houses in the city of Negropontum, and well-dressed citizens inside the strong surrounding walls. The place was inhabited by both Greeks and Franks. In Niccolo's time the connection with the mainland consisted of two heavily guarded wooden bridges. Here and there on the island Niccolo noticed ruins, but his description does not make it clear whether these were the remains of ancient buildings or not. His attention is caught in particular, by three mills, which were turned by the current in the Euripus, and brought in a good annual profit. When, in about 1460, Greece fell into Turkish hands, the Venetians still managed to keep their possessions on Euboea for a little while. It was not until 1478 that Negropontum was absorbed into the Ottoman empire after Venice had lost a war against the sultan, 121

XIV. SOUTHERN GREECE

1. Modon and Koran As they neared the south-western tip of the Peloponnesus on their way through the Adriatic and the Ionian Sea, all Venetian ships, as well as many from other harbours, set course for the town of Modon, set on a peninsula at the back of a bay. 1 This place, which is often spoken of together with Koran, some twenty-five kilometres away on the eastern side of the same peninsula, was a regular stopping place on the shipping route round the Greek coast. In Modon most of the pilgrims and other voyagers could stretch their legs while provisions were being taken on for the next part of the journey. In the period previous to 1204 Modon was a small harbour town with a Byzantine fort; the town was also the seat of a bishop. lt had been inhabited since the Roman period. In 1125 the place was razed to the ground by the Venetians, led by Doge Domenico Michiel, because the piratical activities of the inhabitants formed too great a threat to Venetian interests.2 In the course of the twelfth century however, the inhabitants returned. Some years after 1204 the southern tip of the small peninsula together with the towns of Modon and Koran had fallen into Venetian hands, after being occupied for a short time by the Crusaders. Much against his will Villehardouin had to relinquish these places, so favourably situated from a strategic point of view, because in a treaty of partition which had been drawn up earlier they had been assigned to Venice. 3 In the following centuries the Venetians took great pains to hold on to these places. A safe stopping place about halfway between Corfu and Candia was indispensable for their shipping. For this reason Modon, and, to a lesser degree, Koran, were surrounded by heavy fortifications. 4 Even today th.e ruins of the fort of Modon are still a most impressive sight, and show both the extent and the quality of the defence works. When the Peloponnesus became Turkish territory, in about 1450, these virtually impregnable settlements remained Venetian. Not until 1500, in a war between Venice and the Sultan, did the settlement at Modon pass into Turkish hands, whereupon the garrison of Koran simply surrendered; in the peace treaty of 1503 Venice finally relinquished these two outposts to the Turkish empire. 5

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There was not much to see in these remote towns, which were surrounded by only a small strip of land. Nowhere is there any mention of the remains of the Roman settlements. Nor were there any places of importance in the hinterland, which first belonged to the principality of Achaea and was later under Turkish rule. The important places of antiquity, such as Elis, .Messene, .Megalopolis and even Olympia, were deserted and forgotten. 6 Thus there was never any question of excursions to them from Modon and Koran. For pilgrims, the grave of a certain St. Leo 7 formed a special attraction, but beyond that there was nothing to be seen in the town. In most travel accounts Modon, and sometimes Koran, are merely mentioned in passing as the first place on the Greek mainland where people went ashore. Pero Tafur is the only writer to include in his account a short description of these rich and prosperous towns, surrounded by vineyards and olive groves; he also adds that the town of Modon is extremely unhealthy. 8 There is a remarkable little passage in the pilgrim book by the Italian Frescobaldi, who visited Modon in about 1350. He mentions that on an island opposite the harbour there is a hill, the Poggio della Sapienza, on which 'anticamente' philosophers and poets used to wander, 'afare loro arti' . 9 To what extent a community of Greek monks with black garments and long beards can have evoked memories of ancient philosophers, we cannot tell. Perhaps it was the name, 'Sapienza' that led to this association. I do not think it likely, however, that this remark was based on any ancient tradition.

2. CeY'igo When a foreign traveller visited Koran and Modon there was still no question of him coming into contact with remains from the ancient world. Yet on the island of Cerigo the ancient Cythera, to the south of the Peloponnesus, he was directly confronted with the remains of antique monuments. This island was also seen as an important link in the shipping route through Greek waters, and was a port of call for countless ships. Before 1204 the island had belonged, for some time, to the archon family of Monogiannis, from Monemvasia. In 1207 the Venetian family of Venieri founded a marquisate there under the auspices of the Venetian government. In spite of their claim that they were directly descended from the goddess

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Venus (Venus- Venieri!), to whom the island specially belonged in antiquity, the Venieri were not popular with the local Greek population. 10 It was not long before the Monemvasiotic archons returned (1238-1309); only in 1309 did the island again come under the Venieri, through marriage, but this only lasted a short time, until in 1364 the Venetians took over the government completely; the Venieri remained on the island, however, as government administrators. Venetian rule continued, with a short break, until the fall of Venice in 1798, 11 On the south side of the island, over the roads of Kapsali, which provided a fairly sheltered anchorage for most of the ships, a great Venetian camp, set on a steep rock, rises high above its surroundings. The anchorage and the fort are mentioned by name in the account by the AngloSaxon pilgrim Symon Semeonis. Somewhat further to the northeast on a small plateau close to the seashore, the remains of an ancient settlement could apparently be seen, These were the remains of the harbour town of Skandeia and the ancient Cythera, referred to in the tenth Book of the Iliad; 12 the present names of Palaiokastro and Palaiopolis, which were already in use in the middle ages, give some indication of the great age of these settlements. According to many medieval and later descriptions this was where the temple was situated where Paris first met Helen. This event is also described in Dares' Historia Trojana. 13 Inflamed with love on the spot, the two of them fled from Cythera to Troy. The legend of Helen's abduction was probably still current on the island in the middle ages. Niccolo da Martoni mentions it, and describes how in his day the remains of the temple could still be seen. Buondelmonti first devotes a great deal of attention to the goddess who was closely connected with the island because of one of the names she was known by, Cytheria, He describes a piece of sculpture depicting Aphrodite with Eros and the three Graces, and follows this description with a detailed allegorical explanation, In his interest in the goddess Venus Buondelmonti stands alone among medieval travellers; his great knowledge of ancient literature and mythology were undoubtedly what led him to write this passage. Whether the sculpture described by Buondelmonti is connected with the claims of the Venieri about their descent cannot be said for certain. After describing the sculpture Buondelmonti says that in his time the temple where Paris abducted Helen, with her consent, could still be seen,

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Travellers like Nompar de Caumont, Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo and Pero Tafur also mention Cythera in connection with Paris and Helen. This story continues to circulate among pilgrims until well into the sixteenth century. Cyriacus of Ancona sketched ruined walls and a tower on Cythera, probably those of the Byzantine fort of Kastri (Skandeia). He, too, believed that what he saw was probably the 'castle of Helen' . 1 ~ On the basis of such uniformity in the information given by completely different groups of travellers over a long period it seems to me that a strong local tradition must have been at the root of it. There is no mention of excursions to 'the temple', but by analogy with what happened in Crete such excursions are not inconceivable. 15 The existence of a local tradition about Helen on the southern side of the Peloponnesus is all the more likely in view of the fact that in antiquity there was already a special cult of Helen on the Laconian coast. 16 When one remembers that the region of the Maina and the Taygetos mountains remained undisturbed by foreigners for centuries (it was one of the few parts of Greece to which Slav and Frankish invaders never managed to penetrate) then it is quite possible to imagine that precisely in such an isolated area age-old traditions could survive for centuries practically unchanged. Probably the story of the abduction grew up gradually from an original version connected only with Helen, which said that she had stayed in Cythera with Paris on the way to Troy. The ruins which could still be seen strengthened the belief that this was the temple where the abduction took place; or, according to others, the palace of Menelaus; or, as Spon and Wheeler believed in the seventeenth century, the castle of Helen. 17 To what extent the Venieri were responsible for the propagation of the version which said that Helen's abduction took place on Cythera, cannot be said for certain. In view of their zeal in establishing the legitimacy of their rule by tracing their descent back to Venus I do not consider it impossible that the spread of the Helen tradition which already existed in the area, as a way of increasing the honour of Cythera, may well be due to them. It must be observed, however, that Cythera was not the only place with a claim to being the scene of Helen's abduction. Saewulf places this episode in Raclea (Heraclea), on the Propontis ('testantibus Graecis'), and particularly in th.e fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the Dalmatian port of Parenzo is mentioned several times in connection with the event. 18

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3. Monemvasia

The harbour town of Monemvasia, on the east coast of the Peloponnesus deserves some attention for the very reason that this town, with its excellent harbour, appears so extremely rarely in the travel descriptions. Only in the account by Willibaldus (eighth century) is Monemvasia mentioned as the sole place on the Greek mainland where the journey was broken for a short time. 19 I believe that there is a definite reason for this conscious avoidance of a good harbour: the town, except for the period from 1248-1262, was always completely

Greek. Even before 1204 Monemvasia was an important place. It was a busy port, into which ships sailed from all sides. Under the Comnenes the inhabitants enjoyed a large degree of self-government, and under the leadership of the Monogianni family the town flourished and prospered. Monemvasia was virtually impregnable, being situated on a peninsula that could only be reached by means of a drawbridge; moreover, the fort was built up on the rocks, over a hundred metres up, and could only be reached from the sea. Thus the attacks of the Slavs in the eight century and those of the Normans in 1147 were easily repelled, and the Crusaders were equally unsuccessful in their attempt to capture the Byzantine fort in 1204. 20 It was not until 1248, after a three-year siege by William de Villehardouin both from the land and from the sea (with the help of four Venetian galleys) that the Greek garrison was starved into surrender. But the Frankish rule was not to last for long, for in the battle of Pelagonia in 1259 William de Villehardouin fell into Greek hands. His release in 1262 cost him the strategically situated places of Mistra and Maina and the fort of Monemvasia. 21 From then on the town remained Greek until the middle of the fifteenth century; when the Turks were threatening and the despotate of the Morea 22 had disappeared, Monemvasia first came under the rule of the Pope and the Knights of St. John for a short while, and then, until 1540, under Venice. 23 It seems evident that the fact that Monemvasia does not feature in the descriptions has to do with the efforts of the western captains to find a place with Latin inhabitants. This may be seen as confirmation of the fact that contact between Latins and Greeks was usually difficult and was not seriously sought after by either side. A second reason may be found in the fact that the Monemvasians, who were well known as exporters of the famous malmsey wine, also enjoyed

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a certain fame as pirates. Their preference was for Venetian ships, 24 possibly because they carried the richest cargoes, but certainly also for political reasons. For this reason Monemvasia was barely considered as a port of call by western ships from the twelfth to the fifteenth century. In contact between Constantinople and the expanding Greek territories in the Morea, on the other hand, Monemvasia did play a part. Contact between Mistra and Constantinople could not be maintained over land across the various Latin areas, but it was still possible to supply the despots of the Morea with reinforcements in the form of men and of materials by way of Monemvasia. This was why the reconquest of the Peloponnesus (circa 1260 - circa 1430) was eventually successful.

4. Sparta - Mistra Sparta, which in the fifth century before Christ was the most powerful state in Greece, was in the middle ages more or less forgotten territory. Some of the ruins of ancient buildings must still have been visible in the country of the Laconians, but nobody cared about them. The place was not deserted; as an archbishopric Sparta was even of some importance in the ecclesiastical organization. Information about Sparta is, however, scarce. 25 As far as one can judge from the literary sources, foreign travellers never went there; Sparta was too far from the sea (about 45 kilometres) and so was not accessible by ship. By land, too, it was difficult to get to; a journey through the inhospitable Taygetos area still posed 26 great problems to travellers even in recent times. For only a few decennia in the thirteenth century Sparta was under Frankish rule; this period commenced soon after 1204, with the conquest of the Peloponnesus by the Franks, and came to an end in 1262 when William de Villehardouin bought his freedom by handing over (amongst other things) the fort of Mistra, on the slopes of the Taygetos, to Michael VIII Palaeologus. 27 It does not appear from one single medieval document that people realized that this was the region in which the events involving Menelaus and Agamemnon (which were, after all, known to them) had taken place; or that it was here in the plain of the Eurotas that the Spartan hoplites were drilled to form an insuperable fighting machine, against which even wealthy Athens was powerless. Cyriacus of Ancona was the first person who, stimulated

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by his reading of the ancient authors, went and consciously looked for what there was left of this famous place of 28 antiquity. In my opinion the passage in Idrisi, about Sparta, describing it as a flourishing and important city, should be regarded - like the descriptions of Athens and Corinth - as a recollection, based on literary sources, of the situation as it had been in ancient times.

5. Kyparissia In the Chronicle of the Morea, in which the conquest of the Peloponnesus by the Crusaders at the beginning of the thirteenth century is described in detail, there is only one place where it is apparent that the western invaders realized that the buildings they could see had not been built in their own time. In the siege of Kyparissia the defenders of the great tower of this important port on the west coast of Arcadia managed for a long while to beat off the attacks of Champlitte and his men. They had entrenched themselves in what the French version of the Chronicle calls 'l'ovre des jaiants' , 29 the work of giants, while the Italian version (and the Greek, which is like it) talks about 'una torre antica edificata da Greci antichi' . 30 This fortification, which now forms part of the Frankish castle, 31 may undoubtedly date back to antiquity. A watch tower on the coast of Arcadia, dating from the Greek, Hellenistic or Roman time is certainly not unusual. The solid construction with very large blocks of stone made western Knights think it was the work of giants, who had put up the tower at some vague, unspecified time in the past.

XV. CRETE In the period prior to 1204 the importance of Crete for international traffic was still extremely limited. Byzantine rule had been broken for a long time by an Arab occupation of the island in the period 827- 961. 1 This Arab rule had, it is true, brought great prosperity to the island, but at the same time had caused it to become very isolated, because in those years Crete became a notorious centre for pirates. Merchants and the few pilgrims to Palestihe who dared undertake the journey in those days, preferred to give the place a wide berth. Hardly any information has survived about the period prior to 827, and there are few sources of information about the second Byzantine period, either. Its favourable situation made the island an important base for the Byzantine fleet, in both the first and the second periods, from which to cover the eastern Mediterranean area. On the island itself, however, the Byzantine government was held in little regard; 2 the Cretans felt hardly any interest in what went on anywhere other than on their island. 3 In 1204 Crete, together with the rest of the Byzantine empire, fell into the hands of the Crusaders. 4 When the territory was divided up Crete was given to Bonifatius of Montferrat, but he very soon gave up his right to it: in August of that same year he sold the island to Venice for the sum of 20,000 marks of silver. Since the Genoese had established settlements in various places and were not willing simply to give up these favourable trading positions it took until 1212 for Venice to get the whole island under control. Because of its geographical situation Crete was of great importance to Venice. In spite of the fact that its harbour offered little shelter and could only take ships with a fairly small draught, 5 the capital, Candia (Iraklion) nevertheless became one of the main points in the network of Venetian trading posts in the Levant. It was also the last great point of support in Greek territory that Venice lost to the Turks. 6 Only in 1669, after a siege of twenty-one years(!) were they forced to hand over the heavily fortified capital, Candia, to the Turks. 7 For the Venetians trade interests were of primary importance; their whole machinery of government was geared to them,

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and the control exercised from Venice over the way things were done on the island was extremely strong. 8 In spite of the many rebellions which were always breaking out for different reasons 9 , the period of the Venetian rule of Crete must be described as a thriving and prosperous time. 10 Because of its central position on the Venetian shipping route, roughly half way between Venice and the Palestinian coast, the island of Crete- particularly the capital, Candia - was visited by an evergrowing number of pilgrims. The other three large towns on the island Canea (Chanea), Rethymnon and Sitia, were often mentioned, but seldom visited. The picture of Crete that emerges in the accounts of visitors from the fourteenth century onwards is always the same: all of them speak of a prosperous and wealthy island governed by the Venetians. In 1335 the Italian pilgrim Jacob of Verona 11 calls the place of'Candia a beautiful city, charmingly situated and full of all sorts of delights. Niccolb da Martoni particularly praises the wines: in about 1420 Buondelmonti notices ships there from all over the world, which came to Crete to purchase wine, cheese and corn. Bertrandon de la Broquiere and Pero Tafur also talk about the wealth and fertility of the island. A detailed description of the island of Candia can be found in the travel account by the Irish pilgrim Symon Semeonis. 12 Together with a fellow monk, Hugo Illuminator, 13 he left Ireland in 1323 for Alexandria and Jerusalem. They travelled through France and Northern Italy to Venice, and there embarked, By way of the Dalmatian coastal towns, the Peloponnesus (Modon) and the large island of Candia they finally reached their destination, Alexandria. 1 ~ Symon is a shrewd observer, who has recorded many interesting details in his account. He mentions many of the special peculiarities of Crete; in particular he is interested in the wealth of the island, its scenery, with the cypress forests, 15 the way the inhabitants are dressed, their way of life and the appearance of the towns. According to Symon these towns looked very fine and well fortified from a distance, but once you entered them the streets turned out to be dirty and winding, with many of the paving stones missing. By comparison with the north-Italian cities he had visited the Dalmatian, Greek and Cretan towns were decidedly inferior. It is interesting that as an introduction to his description of the island he quotes a line from the Eclogues of the ninth-century poet Theodulus: Primus Cretais venit ab oris. 16

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Titus, the companion of St. Paul and familiar from the New Testament, is named by Symon as the patron saint of the island. After the destruction of the old bishops' seat of Gortyn by Arabs his head was taken to Candia, the capital, and this relic was certainly of great importance to pilgrims. 17 It is remarkable that in Symon Semeonis's detailed description not a word is said about the antiquities and the old traditions on the island. Several sights which are regularly mentioned by visitors to the island from the fifteenth century onward, - such as the Labyrinth, the grave of Zeus on the Jouktas and the grave of Caiaphas at Knossos - are not mentioned by him. It is possible that he was not interested in these subjects, but in view of his wide interest in all sorts of things which most fourteenth-century travellers say nothing at all about (scenery, way of life, clothing, what the towns looked like) I consider that unlikely. It seems to me more probable that in about 1325 these three traditions connected with antiquity were not yet known, or anyway not well known, among the Venetians on the island. Probably the traditions were known only to the local Greek inhabitants, with whom the travellers did not usually come in contact. They were certainly known about, as is evident from the passages about the labyrinth in Nicephorus Gregoras (12901360) and in the commentary on the Iliad by Eustathius 18 (twelfth century). The latter clearly states that in his time many people - especially seafarers - paid a visit to the Labyrinth; Nicephorus Gregoras visited it himself, accompanied by local inhabitants using torches to light up the inside. In about 1420 the labyrinth was described in detail by Christophoro Buondelmonti, who also mentions the grave of Zeus and the building that was believed to have served as a grave for Caiaphas. Thus I believe that it was not until the second half of the fourteenth century that these three important monuments from antiquity came to the notice of the westerners who lived on the island.

The Labyrinth 'Et est in dicta insula Candie Liberintum in quo alias fuit Minotaurus'. Niccolb da Martoni wrote this sentence as a result of his visit to Crete in 1395. We cannot conclude from this short passage that he actually visited the labyrinth himseLf, but it can be deduced that towards the end of the fourteenth century the association of the labyrinth with

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Crete was already fairly familiar. The first description of the labyrinth appeared some twenty years later, in Buondelmonti's Descriptio insulae Cretae. 19 There he gives an account of his visit to the labyrinth of Ampelouzas near Gortyn, about 45 kilometres from Iraklion. His remark 'arma intrantium et nomina per omnia sunt' shows that many others had been through this maze of passages before him. We can tell what excursions of this sort were like from the document De Orthografia, by Gasparino Barzizza from Bergamo (1370-1431), who taught rhetoric at Padua from 1407 to 1421. 20 The passage in question dates from 1421, 21 and tells how the Venetian rulers of Crete regularly organized trips to the labyrinth at Gortyn. Magistrates arriving from Venice were conducted through the complicated system of passages in the caves by Jewish guides, by the light of torches. The passages stretched for a great distance inside the mountain, leading the visitors more than 400 metres through the mountain, while the fluttering of bats contributed to the eeriness of the dim light of the torches, 22 It is not known when these excursions were discontinued, or for what reason. Woodward is of the opinion that around 1450 official visits of this kind no longer took place, because they are not mentioned in a work that appeared at that time, the De Orthografia by Giovanni Tortello from Arezzo. 23 But from the account by Josef Pitton de Tournefort, who visited Ampelouzas in about 1700, it is evident that the visits continued after 1450, although they may no longer have been organized by the Venetian administration. This writer mentioned the oldest date among all the names and dates on the walls as 1444; this is followed by other inscriptions from 1496, 1516, 1526, 1539, 1560 and 1579. 24 The fact that these expeditions began well before 1420 can be seen from the texts by Buondelmonti and Barzizza. This date is confirmed by another, much later, visitor to Ampelouzas, the Frenchman Savary (eighteenth century), 25 who even found among the graffiti some names from the fourteenth century. What was believed to be the labyrinth of Gortyn was in fact a system of passages formed by an old stone quarry, from which for centuries sandstone had been taken for the construction of all sorts of monuments, including those of nearby Gortyn. 26 In the nineteenth century some of these passages were shut off by the local inhabitants to prevent people getting lost in them. 27 Moreover, as a result of earthquakes

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many of the passages had collapsed or could only be entered at risk to one's life. The plan drawn by Sieber early in the nineteenth century only shows those passages which he was then able to visit. 28 It only occurred to a few of the visitors to doubt whether the identification of the quarry at Ampelouzas with the labyrinth known from ancient literature was in fact correct. Pierre Belon (1553) did not believe that it was: 'ce labyrinthe n'est autre chose qu'une pierrerie' 29 - and his opinion was supported by the Polish ruler, Nicolas Radziwill (1583) who came to Gortyn shortly after him: 'ego cum iis sentio qui locum hunc non labyrinthum sed lapidicinam esse volunt' . 30 But their critical arguments were barely attended to, and the idea of the labyrinth being connected with Gortyn continued until well into the nineteenth century. I have already shown, in a previous study on this subject, how the first proof of the wrong identification came only after the excavations of the minoan palace complex at Knossos in the early years of this century. 31 The fact that not only in the latin middle ages, but for many centuries after that people could so easily set aside the evidence of ancient mythology, that of most of the classical authors prior to the fourth century A.D., 32 and the ancient coins of Knossos, all which point to Knossos, and not Gortyn, as the site of the labyrinth, was due to uncertainty about this question that existed in late antiquity. In 404 33 Claudianus describes the labyrinth and situates it at Gortyn; in his commentary on the Iliad Eustathius speaks of a cave or tunnel near Knossos. 34 It is practically certain that they both based their remarks upon an old tradition. What may also have played some role in this is that particularly in Crete caves had, from the earliest times, been connected with cults, and had been used for all sorts of rites. 35 All this goes to show that in the Byzantine time and in the Venetian period the tradition of the labyrinth was sometimes connected with Knossos, sometimes with Gortyn. From the fourteenth century onward Gortyn was preferred, but a remark by Pero Tafur shows that in his day (circa 1440) the area around Knossos had not renounced all claims to this famous monument. After all, he states that 'it is said' that three miles from Candia, in the midst of other antiquities, was the labyrinth built by Daedalus. It is possible that one of the ruins of the Roman colony Julia Nobilis 36 was connected by local tradition with the labyrinth, which was supposed to have been in that area. The description by Nikephorus

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Gregoras, however, rather suggests a quarry in the mountains near Candia. I believe that with the information that is available it is possible to determine fairly exactly when the labyrinth came into the field of vision of the people with whom travellers came into contact, i.e. the Venetians, and when it was that the excursions to Ampelouzas first began. It is practically certain that at the time of Symon Semeonis' journey (1323) the labyrinth tradition was not yet widely known among the westerners in Crete. Nothing can be found of it either, in the travel descriptions of Boldensele and Ludolf von Sudheim, although both of them speak of the island in terms that make it clear that what they saw was the Crete familiar to them from classical literature rather than the Candia of their own day. Any labyrinth tradition would certainly have attracted their attention, for in their day the concept of the labyrinth was already well-known in western Europe, as we shall see. It may therefore be assumed that around the middle of the fourteenth century the labyrinth tradition survived only among the Greek population. Towards the end of the century the labyrinth was also known in Venetian administrative circles. In the period in between an event took place which had far-reaching effects, both political and social. In 1363 a great rebellion broke out, in which, for the first time, Greek Cretans and Venetian colonists fought shoulder to shoulder against the Venetian government, under the banner of St. Titus. 37 The rebellion was put down with difficulty, after the Venetian government had finally decided to send the famous general Lucchino dal Verme to the island. 38 The island's social and economic structure, however, was never the same again, partly because of the relaxing of the rigid system of government, and partly, too, because the Greeks and Venetians came to live together in increasing harmony. I consider it probable that it was in the years following 1363 that, as a result of these closer contacts, the old traditions of the island also became known to the Venetian inhabitants. A tradition which situated the legendary labyrinth quite firmly on their territory must have been taken over with great delight by the Venetians. After all, from the times of antiquity the idea of the labyrinth had always existed, and had found artistic expression in the floor mosaics of Roman dwellings, in early Christian basilicas (such as the Reparatus basilica at Orleansville in Algeria, circa 324) 39

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and in medieval cathedrals. Particularly in the years between 1100 and 1300 there had been a great predilection for images of the labyrinth: poems, drawings, garden lay-outs, and especially the floors of many medieval cathedrals, all bear witness to this fact. 40 The form clearly recalled the classical labyrinth, with its complicated plan of construction, but the meaning was christianized: those who knew how to follow the complicated route in the right way finally discovered, at 41 the centre of the maze of paths, the heavenly Jerusalem. This gave rise in the middle ages to the tradition of the pilgrimage of the soul, for those who were not able to make the actual pilgrimage to Jerusalem. 42 The maze, with its numerous dead ends, was also regarded as a symbol of the difficulties to be encountered on the way to the heavenly Jerusalem. This whole complex of images that was connected in western Europe with the labyrinth forms the background against which the excursion organized by the Venetians in Crete should be seen. The concept of the labyrinth was widespread throughout western Europe; it was the pride of the Venetians in Crete that they believed that they could show the real labyrinth to such important visitors as magistrates from Venice. The travel account of the French nobleman Nompar de Caumont, in 1418, gave publicity to a tradition connected with the labyrinth which did exist in the middle ages, but which was relatively unknown. In connection with his visit to Crete he writes that in his day many people called the labyrinth 'le cipte de Troie' . 43 The basis of this tradition is to be found in the classical world. It can be seen from Caumont's writing that the author was well versed in ancient mythology. The identification of the labyrinth with Troy is already found among the Romans: in popular Roman belief, in which Knossos was entirely forgotten, Troy, and not Athens, was frequently chosen as the 'great city' of antiquity. It is probable that even in Vergil's time there was a belief in an ethnic relationship between the Trojans and the Cretans. 44 The Trojan game of Ascanius, with its labyrinth-like shapes may be an indication of this. 45 What may have contributed to these ideas was the fact that Troy was besieged for a very long time, and only finally entered with the greatest difficulty. The confusion of Troy with Crete must have continued, under the influence of the later Roman mythographs, into the middle ages. Caumont, the nobleman who was interested in

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mythology, provides the proof that this tradition was still known, at least in France, in the early years of the fifteenth century.

The grave of Caiaphas For many centuries a small building in the vicinity of Iraklion was regarded by the local population as the grave of Caiaphas. It was only in 1883, with the building of the road from Iraklion to Archanes - Pediada, that these ancient remains, on a little hill to the right of the plot, were scrapped and used as building material. ~ 6 The building measured 4.20 m in length and 3 m in width and was 2.50 m high; the stonework was Roman, consisting of many small stones. Buondelmonti is the first medieval author, and in fact the only one, to mention this so-called grave of Caiaphas. His addition of 'ut dicitur' shows that he himself had little faith in this attribution, but it does appear from his statement that in that area (near Knossos) this age-old tradition still survived. The legend that Caiaphas died in Crete is first found in the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, in the part devoted to the Acta Pilati.~ 7 There we read that in the twenty-third year of the reign of the Emperor Tiberius, Pilate, the governor of Judea and the Jewish high priest Joseph (also known as Caiaphas) were summoned to Rome to give an account of their administration. In Crete on the wa~ there, Caiaphas fell ill and died, and he was buried there. 8 In the early Christian period this story was apparently already believed by Christians in Crete. As Xanthoudides has rightly pointed out, it is no longer possible to discover how the story came to be connected with the little building.~ 9 Was it that the Cretans learned of the story and then looked for a suitable monument to go with it, or did the story grow up in Crete because of this monument, and so became known to the author of the apocryphal Gospel? Attributing graves to famous people was quite usual in antiquity; among others, there is the grave of Zeus on the Joukt~s in Crete, and the grave of Idomeneus and Meriones at Knossos. 50 Perhaps the Christians wanted to have their own attractions, as well as, or rather over and above, these personifications of figures from mythology. The grave gave its name to a region and to a hamlet, Casal Cagiafa, 51 and even after the disappearance of Knossos in the sixth to seventh century the story continued to live

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on in the area among the local population. In the course of his wanderings on the island Buondelmonti may have heard it in conversations with the Greek inhabitants, or with Venetian colonists living in the area. It is not impossible that he knew the Acta Pilati, but there is no evidence of this. His brief statement is followed three hundred years later by a detailed description by the Englishman, Richard Pococke, who visited the island in 1743. 52 Pococke believed the building to be an old grave, although he, too, prefers to leave its attribution to Caiaphas to the responsibility of the local inhabitants. Whether the little building ever was really used as a grave it is now impossible to tell. One thing to be said in favour of its being a grave is the fact that the building was at the side of a road outside the town of Knossos. But in view of the fact that all remains were completely lost when the new road was built in 1883 1 we shall never know for certain. The Grave of Zeus A third important sight in Crete was the Grave of Zeus on the slopes of the Jouktas, a few kilometres south of Iraklion. Like the labyrinth of Gortyn this, too, was an underground cave in the mountains. Buondelmonti describes the monument as follows in his Descriptio: a cave with a narrow entrance, a depth of 42 paces and a width of 4 paces. The epitaph at the grave had become worn down through the centuries that not a single (Greek?) letter could now be made out. 53 From Buondelmonti's description it appears that he found the cave and its immediate surroundings abandoned and in a state of complete decay. Some of the ruins of buildings that must, in antiquity, have belonged to shrines, had acquired a new function in the fifteenth century as storage places for grain. Because there was complete unanimity throughout the whole island in attributing this grave to Zeus, Buondelmonti, after some hesitation, has little difficulty in accepting this as being true. Moreover, he found the place marked in the Ptolemy text that he had with him. 54 Evans examined the cave in the Jouktas, and found there the remains of an old minoan shrine. 55 It was probably at a later stage that this old cult site was associated with the idea that Zeus was buried there. Although in late imperial times the worship of Zeus was forbidden and opposed by Theodosius and his successors as idolatry, it appears that

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the local tradition survived among the Cretans, fond as they were of old stories and customs, for a period of more than 2,000 years. In Buondelmonti's time the location of the grave of Zeus was known all over the island. I believe that this, too, was an ancient tradition which originated among the local population, and then in the second half of the fourteenth century became generally known; by contrast with the labyrinth, however, there is no evidence that 'the grave' was ever exploited by the Venetians as one of the sights of the island. Perhaps the reason for this smaller degree of interest was that there was, in fact, some doubt as to the truth of the story, a doubt that also appears momentarily in Buondelmonti. Apart from the Labyrinth, the Grave of Caiaphas and the Grave of Zeus, Buondelmonti also mentions many other ancient remains on the island of Crete, but as has already been said when dealing with his person and his writing, there are few concrete details to be found in his work. He merely speaks of templa and palatia, imagines and bustae, columnae and marmorea hedifitia. Such information is of little value for a detailed description and an identification of particular monuments in Crete. But it should be remembered that Buondelmonti did not set out to write an archaeological handbook of Crete, but a geographical treatise, complete with maps. His intention was merely to see how far the information he found in the writings of ancient authors, and particularly in Ptolemy's Geographica, were still valid in his own time. Buondelmonti is the only one of the travellers discussed in this book who was intensively concerned with Crete. He visited the island for a number of weeks on his various journeys, and he did not limit himself to a few places on the coast; on horseback and on foot he penetrated far into the interior. Other authors who visited the island shortly after he did,have little of value to add to his description. Bertrandon de la Broquiere and Pero Tafur both emphasize the wealth of Crete, an aspect that Buondelmonti does not specifically mention in so many words, but which can nevertheless be deduced from his descriptions of rich meadows and fields of corn, beautiful gardens and fertile vineyards. Pero Tafur's remark about the labyrinth being near Knossos suggests that he had heard a tradition to this effect, but that is all that can be said about this short passage. It is remarkable, however, that he does not mention the labyrinth of Ampelouzas.

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The Descriptio Insulae Cretae remained relatively unknown; there is little apparent influence on later authors. Only much later, in the descriptions of Prince Radziwill (1583) and Pierre Belon (1588), does the island of Crete, with its ruins and its ancient traditions, again receive detailed attention.

XVI. THE ARCHIPELAGO Although there were countless travellers who wandered through the Archipelago little attention is paid to these islands in the surviving travelling accounts. Only a few of the islands - which Niccolo da Martoni estimated as numbering more than three hundred - are mentioned by name, and then only because ships put in at them for supplies or because as they sailed past particular attention was called to them. In the case of most of the islands, however, the description in Buondelmonti's Liber lnsularum Archipelagi (1420) is the first reference since classical antiquity. The Archipelago did not boast any spectacular places of interest; many of the islands were completely uninhabited, and others only sparsely populated. Only two of the islands were well known far beyond the Aegean area: Chios and Rhodes. The reasons for their fame, however, are rather different.

1. Chios Chios owed its fame and its prosperity to mastic, the product of a small tree that only grew in the south of the island. This resin, a secretion of the terpentine-tree, was much in demand in the middle ages, and was used - among other things - in the preparation of perfumes, liquor and varnish and also in medicines. 1 In 1262 the island of Chios, which until 1204 had been part of the Byzantine empire, was given to the Genoese Benedetto Zaccaria by Michael VIII as a reward for his support. 2 With the exception of a short period in the fourteenth century (1329 - 46) Chios remained in Genoese hands until 1566. 3 The mastic monopoly was skilfully exploited by the Genoese family Giustiniani, who managed after 1346 to work their way up to become rulers of the whole of Chios. Towards the end of the fourteenth century Niccolo da Martoni estimates their income at more than 15,000 ducats a year.~ The Giustiniani family governed the island collectively: they were united in the maona, or governing council, mentioned by Pero Tafur among others. Chios became a great trading centre in the Archipelago with Genoese ships in particular, but those of other nationalities as well, visiting the harbour. The island became the most important point in the network of Genoese trade relations with the Black Sea, Constantinople and the coastal towns of the Levant.

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As well as the production of mastic, which is mentioned by a number of authors, 5 the island possessed an important reminder of antiquity, which is mentioned only by Buondelmonti, and then in only a few lines. He says that according to an old tradition the grave of Homer was situated on the higher part of the island. 6 Buondelmonti did not consider himself qualified to decide on the truth of this tradition. In a dilapidated place in the region known as 'rus Homeri' all there was to see in his day were some extremely weather-worn remains; these were undoubtedly of great age, but could no longer be identified any further, As the literary sources available to him provided no explanation either Buondelmonti leaves the matter open for research by others after him. His doubts are understandable, for in the Homerus-vitae of antiquity Chios is indeed mentioned as the place where Homer lived, but he was said to be buried on the island of Ios. 7 On a ridge of hills on the northern side of that island there was an old tower, and several graves, one of which was thought to be that of Homer, 8 In his description of Ios, however, Buondelmonti does not say a word about this. 9 In how far Buondelmonti was mistaken we can no longer tell. I do not rule out the possibility, however, that not only on Ios, but in Chios too, a grave of Homer was shown to anybody who was interested. The fact that there were old traditions connected with Homer in circulation on Chios can be seen from the works of later authors, who do not locate the grave on Chios, but rather a SchoZa of Homer. 10 About six kilometres north of the little town of Chios, at Pasha Vrysi, is Daskal6petra, also known as the Seat of Homer. This was a flat-topped peak of rock with another granite block, about 80 ems high on top of it; because of its vague resemblance to a throne or seat it became, in the popular imagination, the seat of the famous poet. A ridge of rock on either side of the throne was supposed to be where his pupils sat. According to the local inhabitants there were still traces of decoration visible, in the form of lion's claws, up till the beginning of the nineteenth century, 11 Figures of animals decorated the sides; the outlines of the figures on the front have become completely blurred, This has probably already been so for some hundreds of years, for in past centuries different visitors have interpreted it in their own way. Pococke 12 (mid-eighteenth century) believed he could see Homer with two Muses; Chandler 13 (eighteenth

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century) was perhaps closer to the truth in distinguishing a seated Cybele with two lions. The granite block was probably a naiskos (a little chapel) with a seated Cybele, placed there as a votive offering. Boardman believes that because of the style of the animal figures on the sides a date in the 14 sixth or fifth century B.C. should be preferred. The tradition of the Schola of Homer may perhaps also be found in literature in the description of Chios by Hieronimo Giustiniani (1586), in which a 'terrizola tu Homeros' is mentioned. 15 It is extremely probable that Hieronimo Giustiniani, who was born in Chios, bases this on a tradition that had already existed for a very long time, a fragment of which had come to the ears of Buondelmonti. At what point in time these traditions to do with Homer first arose cannot be discovered from the few literary sources. From Buondelmonti it appears that the tradition already existed in the fourteenth century. It is therefore not impossible that the origin may go back to antiquity, since it is improbable that it should have come into being in the intervening period. In view of the great fame the poet of the Iliad and the Odyssey enjoyed, even in classical antiquity, on the island of Chios, I do not consider it too audacious to place the origin in that period. It is conceivable that at precisely that time the Chiotans should have sought to strengthen their claims against Smyrna 16 by means of concrete and demonstrable objects. Buondelmonti also paid a visit to the monastery of Nea Moni, in the central highlands. He tells how visitors were hospitably received there by the monks, who numbered more than thirty. The church attracted his attention on account of its unusual architecture. This church, which was built by Emperor Constantine IX Aronomachus between 1040 and 1056, was indeed a most extraordinary structure; other examples are to be found only on Chios. 17 It is quite understandable that the combination of an exonarthex with apses, covered by three domes, an esonarthex and a naos covered by a large dome should strike Buondelmonti as a peculiarly-shaped building. He did not, however, consider himself capable of describing it: 'plus quam narrare sufficiam' may refer to his inability to describe the complicated edifice in detail, but it may also be a way of saying that he did not consider such a description necessary. It is remarkable, moreover, that the famous mosaic decoration of Nea Moni did not make any particular impression on Buondelmonti.

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In striking contrast to Buondelmonti's fairly detailed description of Chios, Pero Tafur has only one remark to make. He spent three weeks on the island, and was extremely bored because there was nothing to do!

2. Rhodes In the middle ages Rhodes was well-known throughout Christendom as the home of the Colossians, to whom St. Paul had addressed his Epistle. In almost all the descriptions this piece of information is repeated. 18 It was the Colossus of Rhodes, which was known from antiquity, that led to this misunderstanding. In his commentary on the New Testament Erasmus rejects the identification of Rhodes with Colossae, and on the basis of information found in ancient authors he locates the city of Colossae in Phrygia. There had already been some doubts before that, as appears from a passage in the long version of Buondelmonti's Liber Insularurn. 19 The memory of the Colossus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, still lived on in the middle ages, both in Rhodes and elsewhere. Saewulf is mistaken when he refers to the destruction of this statue, which was more than thirty metres high, by the Arabs. In fact, during the capture of Rhodes by Moawijah in 653 the remains of the statue, which had already collapsed many centuries earlier in an earthquake,2Q were merely pulled down and taken away. Buondelmonti mentions a story that there was a large mirror in front of the chest of the statue, in which ships at sea as far away as the Alexandrian coast, could be seen, 21 Niccolo da Martoni is the first to describe how people imagined the statue was positioned: one leg on the island, near the Church of St. Nicholas, the other on the jetty on the other side, so that ships sailed under the statue to get into the harbour. This idea, which later became widespread, does not go back to the texts of ancient authors, but is probably based on a mistaken medieval interpretation. 22 The mouth of the harbour is too wide for such a construction to be technically possible, As a place where the statue may have stood, the area around the palace of the grand-master is the most likely. On the island, with the fort and the Church of St. Nicholas, there is too little room for such an enormous construction. 23 For most visitors a stay in Rhodes must have formed a pleasant break in their journey. The good climate and the fertility of the island are repeatedly praised in the descriptions. In particular, the beautifully laid out gardens out-

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side the city of Rhodes attracted much interest. 2 ~ The city of Rhodes itself was not very large, but was heavily fortified. Buondelmonti remarks that the ruins dotted about the countryside showed that ancient Rhodes had occupied a wider area; in 1395 Niccolo da Martoni reckoned that the place was about as big as Capua, which he knew well. Boldensele's account is the first in which the Knights of St. John are mentioned as rulers of the island. Until 1204, with the exception of a short spell of Arab rule in the seventh century, Rhodes had been a part of the Byzantine empire. In the thirteenth century, after John III Vatatzes of Nicea the Genoese held sway, but in 1306-7 the Knights of the hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, who had been driven out of Palestine, settled on the island, where they were to remain until 1522. 25 It was they who built the enormous walls and moats, as well as the palace of the grand-masters, the hospital and the houses where the Knights lived. Both Niccolo da Martoni and Pero Tafur give a good description of this medieval city of Rhodes. One thing which attracted the attention of many visitors to Rhodes was the row of windmills on the jetty. 26 There was not much to see in Rhodes in the way of antiquities; for those one had to go further inland. Few of the authors, however, decided to do so. Only Nompar de Caumont visited the mountain of Philerimos, a few kilometres to the south of the city of Rhodes, and believed that he saw there the remains of ancient Rhodes. In actual fact he was standing in the midst of the ruins of the old Ialysus. 27 Buondelmonti appears to have been the only one to wander around the island; the fact that he used Rhodes as a base for his trips around the Archipelago may be the explanation for his detailed description of the island. He also visited Lindus, and he says that the god Hercules was worshipped th.ere in a special rite. This passage is not entirely clear to me. Probably Buondelmonti had two ancient literary traditions in mind: at Lindus a god, usually identified as Athena, was worshipped with sacrifices in which no fire was used. 28 This special rite is described by Pindar, among others, in his seventh Olympic ode. 29 At Lindus Hercules was also worshipped according to a rite in which the priest cursed as he brought the sacrifice of two bulls to the heros. 30 I do not consider it impossible that a mixture of these two traditions may have led to this confused passage in Buondelmonti's account. Buondelmonti is the only author who makes any remarks about ancient objects that he saw in Rhodes. He speaks of marble

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altars, decorated with animal heads, coins and vases. 31 He makes the interesting remark that 'a short while ago' near the Church of St. Anthony five hundred statues were discovered in a vineyard. I am inclined to think that this was a great collection of terra cotta statuettes, which had been given as votive offerings and were put away in the storeroom of an old cult site. Such a passage as this, which I have not found in the account of any other medieval traveller, reminds one again how antique material is constantly being discovered. There remains one more place of interest on the island of Rhodes which deserves some attention. Among the many relics which were kept in the Church of St. John as valuable treasures, was one (or, according to Pero Tafur, even several) of the thirty pieces of silver for which Judas had betrayed Christ. Many pilgrims in the fifteenth and sixteenth century speak about this exceptional relic. 32 The fact that the piece of silver had already been in the Church of St. John for some time appears from a passage in a German pilgrim guide which apparently dates from the beginning of the fifteenth century. 33 Pero Tafur and Mariano da Siena are the only travellers discussed in this book to mention this relic. I have already expressed my conjecture that Ludolf von Sudheim's lengthy discourse about the Three Kings, and in connection with that the role of the thirty pieces of silver, was inspired by seeing such a relic. 34 Rhodes was not the only place where one of the pieces of silver could be seen; in the period beginning in the fifteenth century there were at least sixteen of them known in western Europe. We have no information as to when they were placed in the treasure chambers. 35 In the case of six of the coins we do not know what they looked like; from the sometimes vague description of at least eight we can make out that they are coins from Rhodes. 36 I refer to the type with a head of Apollo, sometimes with halo (period 400- 304 B.C.), sometimes without (period 304- 166 B.C.), and on the reverse a rose. That a coin of this sort was displayed in Rhodes is apparent from the account by the bishop of Saintes, Ludovicus de Rochechouart,37 who in 1461 made out the head of Ceasar on the front of the relic, and on the back a lily. 38 There is no problem in equating this description by a non-numismatist with the type I have just described. The question arises as to why precisely coins from Rhodes should be regarded as the silver pieces of Judas. I

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suspect that the activities of the Knights of St. John, after they had established themselves in Rhodes in the early years of the fourteenth century, may have been responsible for the distribution of precisely these Rhodian coins as the pieces of silver which were to occupy such an important place in many of the treasure-chambers of Europe. This hypothesis is supported by several different arguments. First of all it should be said that at least two specimens were in the hands of the Knights of St. John. This is true of the one in Malta, that may, however, be identical with the relic formerly displayed in Rhodes, since it is probably that when the Knights left Rhodes freely in 1522 they took their valuables with them. If Pero Tafur is right in 1440 the Knights of St. John in Rhodes had even more specimens. Another of the coins was for a long time in the church of St. John of Lateran in Paris, the church of the Malta command. 39 The time when the 'pieces of silver' first became heard of in Europe too - about the middle of the fourteenth century - does not exclude the involvement in this question of the Knights of St. John, who had been in possession of Rhodes since 1310. Moreover the Rhodian coins known as the pieces of silver are most likely to have come from Rhodes, and not from somewhere in the Palestinian area. 4 From the coin hoards on the island of Rhodes which have been published so far it appears that almost all of them consisted entirely of Rhodian coins. 41 Thus it seems to me quite possible that the discovery of a number of silver Rhodian coins - perhaps exactly thirty in number on the island of Rhodes in the first half of the fourteenth century gave rise to a tradition about the pieces of silver, and that the Knights of St. John were involved in spreading these coins all over Europe, as relics, in the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

°

3,

Patmos and Cos

As well as Rhodes and Chios, Patmos and Cos were known to some extent outside Greek territory. Having been sent into exile on Patmos by Emperor Domitianus, the apostle John had written the Book of Revelation on that island. This fact is recalled by many travellers who came to the island, or near it. 42 Cos was known, though less generally, as the home of the famous Greek doctor, Hippocrates. Saewulf mentions 'Galienus medicus', but he may be assumed to have confused the two doctors of antiquity, Galenus and Hippocrates. On Cos itself Hippocrates was not forgotten; there

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Buondelmonti was shown the remains of a large group of buildings, with its own spring, as the 'house', or perhaps even the 'palace' of Hippocrates. Shortly before that the same complex was visited by Niccolo da Martoni, who went to the island specially for that purpose. He mentions the spring, and says that the complex consisted of several buildings; one part had collapsed, and another part was used, in his day, for stabling the cattle of the occupants. These may possible have been the remains of the ancient Asclepie-

um.

43

After mentioning the house of Hippocrates Buondelmonti continues with a passage about a dangerous snake that caused great devastation on the island, and about the daughter of Hippocrates who appeared every six or eigth years, in a changed shape. 44 Although these two elements are recounted separately, they belong together, for Buondelmonti's extremely muddled version contains the same elements as the story about Hippocrates' daughter that is told at lenght by Mandeville and in short by Niccolo da Martoni. Mandeville describes how the daughter of the king of Lango (i.e. Cos) was under a spell, and waited in a treasure-filled castle for a prince who would kiss her in spite of her horrible snake's body. Two attempts, one by a knight of St. John and one by a simple visitor to the island failed, and ended in the death of the person in question. Niccolo tells more or less the same story: in connection with a cave or cellar in the Hippocrates' buildings he heard the story of Hippocrates' daughter, who guarded a valuable treasure, and who appeared to people sometimes as a princess and sometimes as a snake. Whoever dared to kiss the snake would gain possession of the treasure and be allowed to marry the princess. Niccolo only recounts the fortunes of one knight of St. John who made the attempt. As it appears in Mandeville and in Niccolo da Martoni the story strongly resembles the motif of the 'fair baiser' in the cycle of Arthur, in which Lancelot plays an important role. 45 In these stories about Lancelot, however, the event does not take place on Cos. Nor can Mandeville himself have heard the story on Cos, considering that he never set foot on Greek soil. He makes it quite obvious that he does not know the island, mentioning two separate islands Cohos and Lango; in fact these are two different names for the same island, Cos. The mention of the Knight of St. John shows that Mandeville's version of the story cannot be very old, in view of

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the fact that these knights only settled in the Archipelago in 1310. Yet the introduction of this knight into the story does form a connection with Greece. 46 How Mandeville came to hear the story from Cos remains unclear. I do not rule out the possibility of oral or written transmission via the Knights of St. John, especially as the story appears to be familiar in Rhodes towards the end of the fourteenth century. It was there that Niccolo da Martoni heard it, from a certain Brother Dominic with whom he stayed for a while. He considered what he heard very extraordinary, but his informant assured him most particularly of its truth. The explanation for the story being known on the island of Rhodes as well as on Cos may perhaps be that Cos belonged to the area that was governed by the Knights of St. John. Buondelmonti's description of the house on Cos that was ascribed to Hippocrates, followed by the legend in which the daughter of the latter plays a part, makes ±t probable that the source of the stories connected with Hippocrates is to be found on Cos after all. 47 It must be observed, however, that the person of the doctor has evolved, with the passing of time, to become 'lord' of the island. We may assume that in late antiquity and in the Byzantine period various popular stories were spun on Cos around the figure of Hippocrates. 48 His qualities as a doctor faded into the background, and so it was that a fairy-story about an enchanted princess who possessed great riches was grafted onto the figure of Hippocrates, the lord of Cos. 49

4. Other islands For information about other islands in the Archipelago our sole source is Buondelmonti's Liber Insularum Archipelagi. The Florentine geographer described some seventy-five islands, some of which he had visited for himself. From the archeological point of view, a number of details can be found there about ruins, pillars and statues. The descriptions of the architectural remains are extremely brief and general. On various islands, on Samos or Kalymnos, for example, Buondelmonti mentions extensive ruins, spread over a wide area, but gives no further details. Only in the case of the temple he mentions on Paros, made of spotless marble, may we assume that he refers to the Church of Panagia Katapoliani on that island, 5° a building which still exists, and which dates back to the second half of the sixth century. In his descriptions of statues Buondelmonti gives more details. He is ob-

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viously interested in the free-standing sculpture that he found on various islands. 5 1 After giving a .sometimes detailed description of a figure and its attributes he usually continues with an allegorical interpretation of the whole object, in which he displays his knowledge of ancient mythology. Although such descriptions of statues which have long since been lost are certainly interesting, the fact that at that time somebody showed any interest in them is even more important. Because of the way he passes on various old legends which were still alive on the islands in about 1420, and mentions all sorts of ancient remains, Buondelmonti's book of the islands has earned a place at the forefront of the line of studies of the different islands of the Archipelago.

XVII. CONSTANTINOPLE

1. Appearance and situation The city of Constantinople was very different from the cities which western Europeans, Russians and Arabs found in their own countries; this is why both eastern and western visitors showed such exceptional interest in the Byzantine capital. Relatively speaking, many medieval authors have written about a visit to Constantinople; their accounts sometimes differ considerably from one another in content and in length, but with regard to the appearance and the situation of the city they are practically unanimous in declaring that no other place in the world can compare in size and in geographical position with the city on the Bosporus. Only Bertrandon de la Broquiere, in 1430, making a comparison between the size of Rome and that of Constantinople considers the Italian city to be bigger. 1 He was right, that Roman territory inside the Aurelian wall was sligthly larger, though much less thickly populated. Inside the city wall built in 411 by Theodosius II Constantinople covered an area of about 13 km 2 • Only when this is compared with the few square kilometres of such medieval cities as Paris, Cologne and Antwerp, 2 does it become clear how immensely large Constantinople appeared to strangers. According to Benjamin of Tudela the huge Arab trading city of Bagdad was the only place that could conceivably be compared with it. 3 As far as the dimensions are concerned, varying figures can be found in the different accounts. Sometimes the total perimeter of the city is given as eight or nine miles, sometimes as twelve miles; mostly, however, it is estimated as eighteen miles. 4 These figures are of little use, other than historiographic, since they are generally based on traditional numbers and not on actual measurements. It should be said, however, in connection with these estimates, that the figure most frequently mentioned, eighteen miles, is much too high. The total perimeter of the city wall as built by Theodosius in 411 was about eighteen kilometres. This can be divided up as follows: west side 5! km, north side 4! km. east side 1! km and south side 6! km. The excessively high estimate is doubtless due to the profound impression the enormous size of the city made on strangers; not one of the authors expresses any doubt about

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the generally accepted figures. Not only the size, but also the shape of the city attracted particular attention. Unlike the majority of European and Arab cities, which were more or less round, the lay-out of Constantinople is shaped rather like a trapezium. In medieval accounts people always speak of a triangular shape, which ignores the short eastern side of the city. 5 Two of the three sides of the triangle lay along the water; the north side was bordered by the Golden Horn, the east and south sides together by the Bosporus and the Sea of Marmara; only on the western side was the city joined to the land. Such a geographical situation was very unusual; this would explain why the shape of the city and its position with so much water on three sides, received so much attention. In almost all the descriptions it is assumed that all three sides of the triangle were equally long. Only Buondelmonti took them as being five, six and seven miles for the land side, the Golden Horn side and the side on the Sea of Marmara respectively. Even these proportions, however, are not entirely correct, for the land side and the shore alongside the Golden Horn are roughly equal in length. The area covered by the city inside the walls consisted of extremely irregular ground, and the presence of various hills led to Constantinople being compared in this respect with Rome, which was traditionally supposed to have been built on seven hills. This idea is found, for example, in the work of Bertrandon de la Broquiere, who remarks that Rome, Constantinople and Antioch were all built on seven hills. The city of Constantinople was never completely built up; even in the Comnenian period, a time of prosperity, when the city had a very large number of inhabitants, 6 there were still extensive stretches of open ground along the land walls and in the Lycusvalley. Odo of Deuil describes how in 1147 large pieces of ground inside th.e walls were used for farming, and how the inhabitants themselves had gardens where they grew vegetables and fruit. The fact that the inhabited part of the city continued to shrink from the thirteenth century onwards will be gone into later. On both the land side and the side facing the sea Constantinople was surrounded by walls, but because the west side (the land side) was the most vulnerable that was the most heavily fortified. A double wall erected by Theodosius in about 411, with a deep moat in between that was added

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later (circa 1000?) made Constantinople virtually impregnable from the land side. 7 Most of the travellers refer to the walls as high, but do not give any exact measurements. Modern examination of those remains that still exist, which are still, in some places, extremely impressive, makes it clear that the 'small' outer wall was eight metres high, and that the strong inner wall reached a height of eleven metres. Idrisi's estimate of 21 ells for the main wall with a parapet of 10 ells tallies fairly well with this. 8 Bertrandon describes how near the Blachernae buildings on the north side of the land wall, near the Golden Horn, there was no moat; the configuration of the ground made it impossible for a moat to be made at that high level. 9 This vulnerable point in the defences, where on several occasions a concentrated attack was made, was, however, sufficiently protected by the special defence works of the Blachernae. 10 Visitors' attention was especially attracted by the extremely strong walls, since defence works of such a size were nowhere to be found. Most visitors considered the city invincible and indeed for many centuries the walls provided protection against attacks of all kinds. 11 Only twice in a thousand years was the city captured, in 1204 and in 1453. The great strength of the walls also led to the forming of legends: the inhabitants of the city believed that Constantinople was impregnable because an angel on horseback defended the walls and protected them. Pero Tafur mentions the legend, saying how while the city was being built an angel took over the watch from the guard. He ends his story with the remark that in his time this angel must have disappeared, considering that the city had just been captured by the Turks. 12 In two of the descriptions the strength of the walls of Constantinople is consciously played down: in his writing, which is full of anti-Greek comments, Odo of Deuil remarks that the walls of the city were not particularly strong; and Wilhelmus Adam writes, in his Directorium ad passagium transmarinum, in which the capture of Constantinople was seen as part of the crusade that was about to be organized, that the city was indeed surrounded by walls and the walls were intact, but that they were not very high. It is clear that from Odo's negative point of view, but even more from what Wilhelmus Adam had in mind, strong walls did not suit their purposes. Yet the fact that both authors lied in this respect is absolutely certain, as appears from the great number of descriptions, dating from the seventh century

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right up to about 1453, in which the strength of the walls is precisely what is emphasized. 13 Buondelmonti gives some impression of the number of towers and gates there are in both the land and the sea walls: he says that on the land wall there were ninety-six towers, on the wall along the Golden Horn 110 and on the walls facing the Sea of Marmara 198, These figures tally fairly well with what modern research has discovered: on the land side 96 towers with eleven large and small gates; along the Sea of Marmara a hundred and three towers and thirty-six gates can still be identified; in the port on the north side much has changed over the centuries, so that the medieval situation is no longer entirely clear. It is certain that the towers numbered more than a hundred. 14 Of the dozens of gates, large and small (Schiltberger says there were 85 and Idrisi gives the figure of a round hundred) there were 15 only a few that received special attention. The most famous gate, mentioned by Harun-ibn-Yahya, Ma9oudi, Sigurd, Idrisi, Clari and al-Wardi, was hardly ever used in medieval times; the Golden Gate could only be entered in a ceremonial proces16 sion by the Emperor, after he had achieved victory in battle • Robert de Clari describes at length how this ceremony went in about 1203, This Porta Aurea was very beautifully constructed and decorated; the name referred to the fact that it was covered with gilded plates, On the top there were bronze figures, which included Emperor Theodosius II, a victory and several elephants. 17 From the description by Harun-ibnYahya one might conclude that it was a quadriga of elephants, for he speaks of a group of five figures: four elephants and thei~ driver. Clari, on the other hand, mentions only two large bronze elephants. We know that the group of figures on the Porta Aurea was badly damaged in various earthquakes. In the eight century (720) the statue of the emperor fell down, and in 866 the same thing happened to the victory. 18 It is not known whether these figures were replaced on top of the gate during some restoration, but it is certainly probable, From Hartin's account it is not clear which figure it was he saw, the victory or the emperor. It is most likely to have been the victory, as that statue was seen on the gate in 1648 by a Frenchman, De Monconys. 19 It is not inconceivable that in new earthquakes between 913 and 1203 some of the elephants were lost; in that case Clari's description would also be correct. Harun names as the second most important gate the Pege

APPEARANCE AND SITUATION

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gate (Silivri kapi) which was at a short distance (about 1 km) north of the Porta Aurea. This was the gate through which, in particular, the traffic between Constantinople and nearby places would pass. The name of the gate was taken from a holy spring very near it, and the gate, like most of 20 the city gates was covered with iron work. It is not clear on which of the city gates the statue with the Golden Mantle stood, which Clari describes. I believe he refers to one of the large entrances in the land wall, but not the Porta Aurea. Probably groups of figures were placed on many, if not all, of the gates when they were built; there is hardly any literary data, however, about such statues. Moreover, either in 1204 or else at a later date, the objects themselves were lost. The evidence about the external appearance of Constantinople (shape, size and position) indicates no changes over the centuries. A definite difference is seen, however, in what is said about the situation inside the city. From a favourable view in the early descriptions (up till 1204), in which Constantinople is regarded as a rich and beautiful city, a transition can be observed towards an unfavourable judgment in the testimony of the later Palaeologian period (fourteenth to fifteenth century). The turning-point is undoubtedly to be found in the thirteenth century, with the plundering of the city by the Crusaders, and the Latin empire. The ensuing attempts at restoration by the early Palaeologian emperors Michael VIII and Andronicus II were certainly not without success, but this was only temporary. 21 Nothing can be traced about this in my sources, as there are no accounts between 1204 and about 1340. Round about ~340 one finds not only the negative remarks of Wilhelmus Adam and of the slightly earlier traveller Aboulfeda, but also in fact some predominantly positive statements in the work of Wilhelm von Boldensele (copied by Ludolf von Sudheim and Mandeville!) and that of Ibn Battuta. 22 After about 1340, however, nobody ever writes about the rich city of Constantinople, a theme which, before the thirteenth century, was emphasized by practically all the authors, and especially by those who took part in the crusades. 23 The picture of Constantinople as a densely populated city disappears, making place for that of a delapidated place with a small number of inhabitants. 24 Whereas in about 670 Arculf could still stress the fact that many of the buildings in Constantinople were made of stone, precisely what Wilhelmus Adam and Ibn Battuta,

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centuries later, emphasize is the large number of wooden buildings in the city. But in spite of decline in almost every field the city still continued to impress. Ibn Battuta praises the roomy, well-paved streets, and compares the Greek city with dirty, cramped Frankish Pera on the other side of the Golden Horn. Clavijo particularly notices the coolness resulting from the numerous fountains and wells. These were things which were completely absent from most medieval cities. Even in the difficult times of the late fourteenth and fifteenth century people were still prepared to attend to such things. An increasing number of visitors to the city stress the many open spaces inside the walls. It has already been stated, in connection with the text by Odo of Deuil, that the city area had never been fully built up. After the fires caused by the Crusaders in 1203 - 1204, in which particularly the central part of the city suffered, 25 the number of open spaces continued to increase. Large parts were never rebuilt after 1204; there was little necessity for them to be, either, since the population had fallen sharply. It is known that in the period of the Latin empire little was done about restoration and maintenance; a few of the great buildings such as the palaces and the Hagia Sophia were more or less kept up, but large parts of the city fell more and more into decay. With the continuing decline in the number of inhabitants in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the built-up area continued to dwindle. More and more areas came to be used as vineyards or olive groves. 26 Several fifteenth century travellers, in particular, - Clavijo, Buondelmonti and Pero Tafur stress the small number of inhabitants they found in the city. In an anonymous account, written in Munich in 1437, and intended as information about Constantinople for the participants in the Council of Basle, the number of inhabitants is estimated as barely 40,000, 27 The inhabitants were concentrated mainly along the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara. Ibn Battuta describes how inside the great walls people lived in thirteen separate villages; and Bertrandon de la Broquiere and Pero Tafur also speak of separate inhabited areas, spread here and there over the open spaces. The Golden Horn, which penetrated deep inland (5 km) formed a magnificent natural harbour, which was for many centuries a source of prosperity. Various different authors, especially before 1204, speak of the busy trading activities and the large number of foreigners they found in the city. 28

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Robert of Rheims believed that in Constantinople trade was carried on with the whole world, and the truth of this claim can hardly be denied. With the decline of the city the harbour also suffered a definite recession. A weakening in the political field was accompanied by the loss of its central position as transit port, and in the fourteenth to fifteenth century it was no longer Greek Constantinople that was the centre of international trade, but rather Genoanruled Galata-Pera. The income from harbour fees fell, and round about 1350 Constantinople received a total of only 30,000 hyperpera, while in Pera harbour fees totalled 200,000 hyperpera. 29 A hundred years later Pero Tafur reported that in Constantinople the extensive harbour facilities presented a deserted appearance, and were nothing but a memory of earlier prosperity. Ships still put in there, and some work was still done, but everywhere, in the docks and along the quays there was evidence of capacity far in excess of use. Traffic across the Golden Horn between Constantinople and Galata was by ship. Ibn Battuta is the only author who mentions the fact that although the two cities were not far apart there was no bridge linking them. In earlier times, according to him, there had been a stone bridge over the Golden Horn, but this had collapsed in the mean while. Janin has devoted a special study to this subject, and believes that Ibn Battuta may have meant the bridge across the river Barbyzes, at the end of the Golden Horn. 30 There are also indications that between the fifth and the seventh century there was a bridge just outside the walls at Blachernae. On the eastern side the Golden Horn could be shut off by a large chain, which, when hung from two towers on either shore obstructed the passage of enemy ships. 31 Robert de Clari describes this chain, and tells how the Crusaders first had to capture one of these towers (in Galata) to let down the chain so that their ships could get through. 32 Only few of the authors took any interest in the previous history of Constantinople. Its founding by Constantine, and the legend connected with it, in which the building materials were said to have been found in a miraculous manner at the place where the city had to be built, are described only by Arculf-Beda and Robert of Rheims. The fact that a small settlement called Byzantium, had previously stood on the site of Constantinople is found only in Buondelmonti and Zosimus. Buondelmonti also describes how the city

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was enlarged and embellished by Constantine and later emperors; most of the authors, however, regard the Constantinople of their time as a given fact, and do not concern themselves with its historical development.

2. Hagia Sophia Whoever approached Constantinople by land or by sea could already see, from a great distance, the dome of the ~agia Sophia rising above the city. 33 The immense size of the church and its situation on the high part of the peninsula made the Hagia Sophia a fixed landmark in the city. Countless visitors must have admired the church, throughout the centuries, from inside as well as from outside. Some idea of the impression the building made on them can be obtained by comparing the various pieces of written evidence with each other. The testimonies of western Europeans, Russians and Arabs do vary somewhat with regard to the Hagia Sophia. In spite of its great size this church made little impression on Moslems; several Arab authors do not even mention it, or only do so in passing. 34 From the words with which Aboulfeda introduces his passage about the statue of Justinian it can be seen that he has purposely omitted what was said in his source about the Hagia Sophia. Ibn Battuta does pay a great deal of attention to the exterior, but remarks that he has not been able to visit the inside of the church because he did not wish to perform the obligatory genuflection in front of the cross above the entrance. One may wonder whether this is the real reason, or whether nonbelievers were not allowed in the building. When Russian authors write about the Hagia Sophia they do so in a way that assumes a familiarity with its shape, size and wealth on the part of their readers. 35 For the Russians the cathedral church of Constantinople was of great significance, for the very reason that Russia looked so much to Constantinople in ecclesiastical matters. The form of the Hagia Sophia and its decoration was copied in many churches in Russia; the Hagia Sophia in Kiev is the most famous example of this. 36 The impression the church made on Russian visitors, and the spell-binding effect of the solemn liturgy heard in such a great and richly decorated space is reflected, for example, in the Nestor chronicle. The envoys from Russia who attended a service in the Hagia Sophia in about 987, thought themselves to be in Heaven. 37 Such words of praise

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and the oral accounts of countless Russian pilgrims who visited Constantinople on account of its wealth of relics, undoubtedly contributed to the great fame of the Hagia Sophia in Russia. From western accounts, too, it appears that a certain knowledge of the cathedral of Constantinople is assumed, in any case of the name and the vast size. For western visitors, however, the structure of the building - a square ground plan, with a dome supported by high columns - was less familiar, and the costly interior was also something without parallel in west-European countries. 38 Anybody who expects to find in the travel accounts a description of the structure and appearance of the Hagia Sophia is doomed to disappointment; most authors have an eye for all sorts of details, especially on the inside; they love to describe miraculous aspects such as the healing power attributed to certain pillars or bolts, which is mentioned by Clari and Antonius of Novgorod, but they say nothing about the building itself. Thus Arculf's unsophisticated attempt at describing the building is not followed for centuries. He speaks of a large stone building, round in shape with three storeys and a dome supported by arches. In 1204 Clari devotes a few words to the shape of the building, but is much more interested in the columns and bolts which drove out diseases. Only Clavijo, in about 1400, was to give a detailed description of the inside and outside of the cathedral of Constantinople. There is a remarkable text by an anonymous Armenian writer, who makes an attempt (not entirely successful) at describing the countless pillars in the building. 39 On the ground floor he counted twelve columns of green marble, by which he probably means the two lots of four massive pillars in between the heavy buttresses on the north and south sides; the remaining four are the two lots of two pillars which stood immediately behind them in the side-wings. The sixtyfour green pillars on the first floor can perhaps be identified as the sixty pillars in the gallery of the space used as a gynaeceum. The eight purple pillars almost certainly fit in with the eight porphyry pillars of the exedrae, while in the eight square pillars we may recognize the square columns of the same exedrae. What the twelve white pillars are supposed to be is not clear; Brock believes they may have belonged to the columns of the atrium, which have disappeared, but I am more inclined to look for them inside the

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building. The four pillars mentioned in his next sentence cannot be accounted for either; the text appears to be corrupt at that point. The forty pillars of the upper storey may refer to the pillars already mentioned; it is possible that these forty pillars made up the partition between the gynaeceum and the nave. All the authors are unanimous in declaring that the building was exceptionally large, but what the actual measurements were is not usually revealed. 39 a Only the anonymous Russian writer of about 1390, Clavijo and in particular the geographer Buondelmonti took the trouble to make a note of some measurements and distances. The name of Emperor Justinian I, who commissioned the building, is mentioned only by Boldensele and by the anonymous Armenian. Schiltberger attributes the building to Constantine, and Ibn Battuta to Asaf, the son of Barakhya, a vizier of King Solomon known from Jewish and Mohammedan legends. Originally the Hagia Sophia formed the centre of a large complex of buildings. It was the main church of the city, the seat of the patriarch, 40 and on feast days the imperial family also attended church in the Hagia Sophia. A considerable number of the hundreds of priests and officials of the church were housed in the surrounding buildings of the patriarchate and in a number of monasteries. 41 Ibn Battuta describes how in the fourteenth century the complex could be freely entered through thirteen gates: first one entered a large forecourt with a water channel and trees, and only then did one reach the entrance to the church. With the decay of the city in the course of the fourteenth century parts of the Hagia Sophia also collapsed. Clavijo notices many ruins in the vicinity of the church, and some twenty years later Buondelmonti describes how only the testudo, the central part with the dome, was still standing, while the rest of the complex had collapsed and disappeared. Bertrandon de la Broquiere remarks that of the many monasteries of former days only three remained in his day (circa 1430). But the church itself, according to Pero Tafur, was still well kept up, although it was apparently no longer possible to arrest the decay of the buildings surrounding it. The inside of the church is described in general terms by a number of authors. They emphasize the wealth of gold and silver, the use of marble, porphyry, jasper and other precious stones 42 and the magnificent mosaic decoration. Sometimes their attention is caught by particular details, such as the

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costly lamps (in the case of Benjamin of Tudela 7 the anonymous Russian and 7 in particular 7 Robert de Clari) 7 the altar with its ciborium and antependium (Clari and Pero Tafur)1the porphyry rota 1 mentioned by Antonius of Novgorod 7 on which the imperial throne was placed ~ 3 and the bema or ambo from which the Gospel was read 7 which is noted by Clari and Clavijo.~~ Of the many mosaics only a few receive special mention: Clavijo and Pero Tafur refer to the mosaic of the Pantocrator 7 that was placed so high in the dome that in spite of its immense size it still appeared small.~ 5 Then Antonius of Novgorod speaks of a row of portraits of emperors and patriarchs 7 evidence that is borne out by the anonymous author of the Chronicle of Novgorod.~ 6 The portico in which the portrait gallery was installed was destroyed 7 however 7 in the fires of 1203- 1204.~ 7 The same Antonius of Novgorod also mentions a mosaic portrait of Leo VI the Wise above an aisle of the church; he probably refers to the picture above the imperial door in the narthex.~ 8 Whether this mosaic should be attributed to Basil I (867886) or to Leo VI (886-912) is a matter that is still under discussion at the present time;~ 9 apparently in the period round about 1200 the picture was connected with Emperor Leo, Schiltberger's reference to golden discs in the walls seems to me to be inspired by gold plates built into the brickwork 7 bearing a confession of faith or a votive inscription. 50 Although in this century examinations of the Hagia Sophia have yielded hardly any trace of them 7 various authors make mention of immense cisterns which apparently stretched under the church. 51 Under the narthex there is indeed a space divided into two chambers 7 43,5 metres long 7 which was at one time connected with a water system. 52 Whether it was this space that led to the reference to cisterns under the Hagia Sophia 7 both in legends and in travel accounts 7 cannot be said for certain. The firm assertions of such reliable authors as Clavijo and Buondelmonti do suggest 7 however, that they did see certain spaces underneath the church that were used as cisterns. It is not known to what extent all the various parts of the complex were accessible throughout the ages. For this reason the description by Ignatius of Smolensk of how he went up the dome is a useful detail, He was so surprised at the great size of what had appeared so small from down below, that he went round with a measuring-staff and measured the distances between the various windows. 53

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The travel accounts give no information about the ceremonies which took place in the Hagia Sophia. Their silence on this subject is easy to explain: Arabs either did not wish or were not allowed to enter the church; for the Russians the liturgy hardly differed from the one they were familiar with, and the Roman Catholic pilgrims did not record anything about Greek services either. There is, then, only one piece of information available: Bertrandon de la Broquiere says that he was present at the performance of a 54 mystery play about the Three Young Men in the Fiery Furnace. There are a few small details in or near the Hagia Sophia which attracted the attention of travellers, and which should not go unmentioned. The fact that the roofs and domes were covered with lead appears to have been exceptional; it is stated quite emphatically by Clavijo, Schiltberger and Pero Tafur, The absence of a clock tower attracts the particular attention of Antonius of Novgorod. He tells how the faithful are called to the services by means of a rattle or semantron. 55 The right of sanctuary that was associated with churches also applied to the Hagia Sophia: Clavijo writes that anybody who sought refuge in the church was safe from arrest.

3. other churches and monasteries Although Constantinople had dozens of other churches and chapels besides the Hagia Sophia they are rarely described in the travel descriptions. They were undoubtedly frequently visited: in the chapter about pilgrimages I have spoken at length about the attraction of the enormous number of relics in the churches and monasteries of Constantinople, particularly for pilgrims, but also for other travellers (Arabs excepted!). 56 Whenever a certain church is mentioned in an account, the emphasis is always placed upon the relics in the treasure chamber; a description of the building and its decoration is not usually given. Only one author deviates very far from this fixed pattern: Clavijo gives a fairly detailed description of the structure and the decoration of various churches and monasteries which he and his fellow envoys visited. The monasteries and churches of Constantinople have been the subject of a number of studies. At the beginning of this century the great work of J. Ebersolt and A. Thiers 57 appeared, and in 1965 a study by Eyice about the churches from the

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ninth to the fifteenth century, 58 Krautheimer, in his book about early Christian and Byzantine architecture, pays particular attention to late-Classical and early Byzantine church building, especially that of the Emperors Constantine and Justinian I, although it also contains some observations about later developments. 59 In the recently published Bildlexikon zur Topographie Istanbuls 60 attention is also paid to the churches in the city. Although the travel accounts are not entirely without mention in these works, the material that can be found in them has not yet been adequately drawn upon. The church of the Holy Apostles, on the western side of the city, is referred to in the account of Willibaldus' journey. The name of the church is not mentioned, but the reference to the graves of Timothy, Andrew and Luke under the altar make this identification certain. Their relics are supposed to have been buried there in the middle of the fourth century. 61 John Chrysostomus, who is also mentioned, was buried in this church in 438. The Church of the Apostles no longer survives, but in spite of this the building is well known from descriptions by Byzantine authors, 62 from drawings and from architectural imitations: both St. Mark's in Venice and the Basilica of St. John at Ephesus were modelled on the Church of the Hagii Apostili. 63 Up till 1028 it was the burial place of the Byzantine emperors, who were all laid to rest near the founder of the church and of the city, Constantine, and his mother, Helena. 64 The Hagii Apostoli church is referred to as a place of burial by Rabban 9auma, Stephanus of Novgorod, Ignatius of Smolensk and the anonymous Armenian, who noted there the graves of Constantine, Theodosius II, Justinian I and many other emperors. The church, which was plundered in 1197 by Alexius Ill because he was in need of money, and was again stripped bare in 1204 by the Crusaders, was in a delapidated state at the beginning of the fifteenth century. Buondelmonti found the church in a serious state of decay. The magnificent porphyry tombs of the emperors65 must have still been there at that time. The tomb of Constantine (according to Rabban 9auma and the anonymous Armenian) was red, and that of Justinian I green. 66 Several years after the conquest of the city the ruined building was pulled down by Mehmed II (1462) and replaced by a large 67 mosque. Several sarcophagi have survived, and are in the archeological museum. 68 The church used as a place of burial by the Comnenes

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and the Palaeologians, one of the buildings of the Pantocrator monastery, near the church of the Apostles (present-day Zeyrek Kilise Camii) 69 is mentioned by Bertrandon de la Broquiere and by Pero Tafur. Bertrandon's statement that Helena, the mother of the emperor, was buried there, is not true; in this burial chapel, which probably came into use round about 1136, what caught his attention was probably the great porphyry tomb of Empress Irene, the foundress of the chapel, who died in 1134 and was later laid to rest there. 70 Nor was the tomb of Constantine to be found in this chapel, as Bertrandon believed. He probably did not visit the church of the Apostles, and did not see any other tombs of emperors; the tendency, then current, to associate everything with Constantine explains his mistake. The fact that there had been attempts to open the grave and plunder it appears from Bertrandon's statement that the large stone slab over the tomb was smashed to pieces. 71 Pero Tafur contents himself with the remark that the Pantocrator monastery was richly decorated with gold mosaics, and that it was the burial place of the emperors7 2 • One of these mosaics was specially mentioned by Stephanus of Novgorod: after entering the first gate he saw a very large mosaic, high up above him, of Christ as Pantocrator. Parts of the monastic buildings have been opened up by recent excavations. 73 Of all the sarcofag± only one remains, traditionally believed to be that of the Empress Irene; this has now been taken to the Hagia Sophia museum. The architecture of the church was not seriously damaged by its conversion into a mosque, but the decoration of the building was lost completely. Most of the churches and monastic buildings described only by Clavijo are no longer in existence. His notes are valuable for that reason, but are of even greater importance because of Clavijo's attempt to give an accurate description, paying attention both to the architecture and to the decoration. The first church the envoys visited was that of St. John the Baptist in Petra, 74 in the north west of the city, near the Blachernae palace. Clavijo praises the magnificently coloured mosaics which embellished the walls and ceilings; he particularly mentions a picture of St. John the Baptist at the entrance to the inner court, and a Pantocrator in the actual church. At the entrance to the building Clavijo was much strucl~ by a dome supported by four pillars, which was decorated with mosaics. He does not make it clear what the

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purpose of this structure was. 75 Near the main entrance he saw a fountain, covered by a dome resting on eight pillars of white marble. The church itself was rectangular, and was divided into three naves, of which the central nave ended in an apse. 76 In these naves, which Clavijo calls chapels, there were curtains hanging, behind which the sacred rites could be performed. The church of Maria Peribleptos was in the south-western part of the city, and was also surrounded by a large inner court of the monastery. 77 Even the outside of this church was colourfully decorated. At the entrance Clavijo noticed a picture of Mary, flanked by an emperor and an empress. This group may have been that of Michael VIII and Theodora with their small son Constantine, which is known from later references. 78 Thirty Greek castles and cities were represented at Mary's feet; 79 according to Clavijo all of them were the property of the monastery. At the same place near the entrance an emperor was buried; Clavijo identifies him as the founder, Romanus Ill (1028-1034) but this cannot be correct, since his tomb is mentioned later. It is interesting that under the picture of Mary official documents were kept, complete with seals of lead and wax. What they were actually kept in is not, however, described (a cupboard or niche in the wall?). The Peripbleptos church was large and spacious, and had five altars and a wealth of marble covering and mosaics. Two imperial tombs are mentioned: that of Romanus Ill, already mentioned above, which was apparently plundered by the Crusaders in 1204, 80 and another which may have belonged to Nicephorus Ill Botoniates (1078-81), under whom the buildings had been greatly extended. 81 In the monastery belonging to the Peribleptos church Clavijo saw a mosaic of the Tree of Jesse, which according to him, excelled all the other mosaics - mainly historical and biblical scenes - in quality and splendour. Mango has shown that this theme only became usual in the Palaeologian period, 82 so that this picture, like that of the imperial family, only came into being during the restoration under Michael VIII. The walls and ceilings of the great refectory of this monastery were decorated with scenes from the life of Christ, from the announcement of his birth up to his death. 83 The Peribleptos monastery was held in great esteem in the city, and in about 1420 it was used as the temporary residence of the emperor during a Turkish siege and a plague epidemic. With its gardens and its vineyards, with monastery

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buildings scattered here and there, it was, as Clavijo observed, like a great city within Constantinople itself. One of the oldest, and because of its wealth of relics one of the most visited monasteries of Constantinople was the monastery of St. John the Baptist in Stoudion, an area in the south-west, near the Porta Aurea. 84 Here, too, Clavijo describes the three-naved basilica with a polygonal apse, a narthex, and an atrium surrounded by galleries of pillars. Of the twenty-four nave columns mentioned by Clavijo only eighteen can still be seen in the ground plan of the later mosque, so that it is certain that major rebuilding must have been carried out. This church also had countless mosaics, depicting events from the Bible; in the refectory of the adjacent monastery Clavijo notices a mosaic of the Last Supper. The date of this mosaic may go back to the activity of Abbot Theodorus Stoudites (798-826), who had an extensive cycle of pictures of saints put up on the walls. 85 Later restorations, such as that in about 1293 under Prince Constantinus Palaeologus, cannot, however, be entirely ruled out. Like the other monasteries that were visited, the church of the St. George in Mangana monastery stood in the midst of gardens and fields, at the farthest eastern point of the city (the Seraglio point). 86 Here, as in the church of St. John in Petra, Clavijo mentions an octagonal fountain with a covering dome outside the church. Of the many mosaics in the building the one showing the Ascension of Christ particularly attracted Clavijo's attention. The dome was adorned with the customary scene of the Pantocrator, which Clavijo mistakenly took for God the Father, and besides a scene of Pentecost near the entrance Clavijo also saw a cross in the hetoimasia (depicting the Second Coming of Christ), held by an angel above the clouds. 87 The floor and walls were inlaid with costly plates of porphyry and jasper. There was also a large tomb made of jasper, in which an empress was said to be buried. Whether this refers to the tomb of Skleraina, the mistress of the founder of this monastery, Constantine IX Monomachus (1042-1055), or indeed to that of an empress, is not certain. It is known that Skleraina's tomb was used again by the Crusaders shortly after 1204, for the burial of a French count, Hugues de St. Pol. 88 But the tradition about an empress- probably Skleraina - continued to be associated with this tomb up until Clavijo's day. As well as the church of St. Mary of Blachernae, which

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will be discussed in relation to the palace of the same name, 89 Clavijo visited the church of St. Mary Hodegetria, This church was situated to the east of the Hagia Sophia close to the water of the Sea of Marmara. This small but splend~d church was famous because it contained the renowned icon of St. Mary, painted, according to tradition, by St. Luke, In times of danger this icon was placed upon the city walls. 90 In connection with this ~con Clavijo describes the solemn display that took place once a week, on Tuesdays, an event to which Pero Tafur was to devote much attention some decades later, 91 From Clavijo's description of the monasteries in Constantinople some particular elements emerge. First of all, the fact that these large groups of buildings were often surrounded by a separate wall, like a city within a city, and that they were also largely self supporting, possessing their own gardens and fields. This tallies exactly with the statements by Ibn Battuta, Bertrandon and Pero Tafur, that inside the great walls of Theodosius Constantinople, consisted of a number of separate villages. 92 The second element that can be mentioned is the form of the monastery churches: most of them were three-naved basilicas with a central apse and a dome over the central nave. These churches were entered through a gate-house, an inner court with porticoes and, often, an elegant fountain, and a narthex decorated with mosaics and precious stones: in the dome usually the Pantocrator, on the walls and ceilings a great variety of scenes from the Old and New Testaments, but also from the history of the Byzantine Empire (portraits of emperors). 93 The close relationship which grew up between the imperial families and the great monasteries may perhaps best be seen from the fact that several monastic churches also served as imperial mausoleums. The countless numbers of relics in these monasteries must certainly have provided the major source of income of these immensely wealthy communities. Even though the city was very heavily plundered in 1204 and again during the Latin rule, and robbed of thousands of relics, Clavijo's description shows that a century and a half later the monasteries had recovered from this catastrophe and that once again the relics were attracting thousands of visitors to the monasteries of Constantinople.

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4. Hippodrome To the south west of the Hagia Sophia lies the place where for centuries the great games and festivities of Constantinople were held. 94 The Hippodrome has received regular attention both in the early descriptions of pre-1204 and in the later ones. In the period before the Frankish conquest quite a lot of attention was paid to the structure of the Hippodrome and to its decoration. In the plundering and fires of 1204 the Hippodrome was very badly damaged and the greater part of the decoration was destroyed; thus later authors pay less attention to the building itself, but more to the various objects that had escaped destruction. The oldest real description of the Hippodrome in a nonGreek text dates from the early years of the twelfth century. In the saga which came into being as a result of the pilgrimage of Sigurd to the Holy Land and Constantinople (circa 1110) the scene of the games is described as follows: 'those who have been to Constantinople say that the Hippodrome is laid out as follows: it is a flat area like a fairly large, rounded stretch of ground; this is surrounded by a high wall, and all round this stone wall there are steps on which the spectators can sit, while the games are held on the flat ground below'. Benjamin of Tudela and Idrisi both express admiration for the Hippodrome: they do not believe that such a building is to be found anywhere else in the world. 95 Robert de Clari attempts to give an idea of the measurements: the length of the arena was one and a half bowshots, and the width almost one bowshot. Centuries later Buondelmonti estimates the length of the Hippodrome as 690 ells, and the width as 124 ells. 96 The actual measurements have been established in our own century as a result of archeological research: the length of the whole was 420-440 metres, the width varying from 117125 metres; the arena was 80 m. wide and about 370 m. long. 97 Clari says, moreover, that there were thirty to forty rows of seats; he also mentions the boxes for the imperial family and the court dignitaries. He speaks of the raised central platform, the spina, which was apparently fifteen feet high and ten feet wide. Haran-ibn-Yahya mentions two gates on the west side, 98 through which the chariots appeared at the beginning of the race. 99 The spaces underneath the seats were used as stables, storage places for chariots and equipment, changing rooms, etc. 100 After Clari's description in 1204 it is a long time

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before another traveller describes the Hippodrome. Towards the end of the 14th century the anonymous Russian writer speaks of this construction, that according to him had formerly been very beautiful and contained many marvels; in his time a few of them apparently still survived. He mentions thirty large columns which were joined together by iron rings and a stone architrave. Clavijo probably refers to the same row of columns when, besides the thirty-seven tall, white marble columns of the sphendone (the rounding on the southwest side), he also mentions a row of smaller columns on which there were paintings of the games. 101 The imperial box, supported by four small pillars and decorated with statues, is mentioned by both Clavijo and Buondelmonti. It also appears from their description that in the fourteenth to fifteenth century a platform had been added to the northeast side, above the carceres, from which the ladies of the court and highly-placed dignitaries could watch the games. 102 Buondelmonti is the only person to mention cisterns in the building of the Hippodrome. His observation is correct, for in the course of restoration work somewhere between the sixth and the ninth century the vaulting of the sphendone had been closed in, and the space thus created was connected to a water main. 103 Apparently parts of this could still be seen in the fifteenth century. In the fifteenth century the Hippodrome, too, decayed rapidly; of the 37 sphendone columns mentioned by Clavijo, Buondelmonti, twenty years later, sees only twenty-four. 104 The evidence of Bertrandon de la Broquiere and Pero Tafur suggests that in about 1435 the Hippodrome was hardly used any more. From an archaeological point of view the descriptions from before 1204 have special importance, because they contain several references to the decoration of the spina. It is known from literary sources 105 that Constantine and later emperors had pieces of sculpture brought to Constantinople from all over their empire, to decorate the place where the competitions were held. The collection of stone and bronze statues on the spina included many of the masterpieces of classical art. Harun-ibn-Yahya speaks of bronze statues of horses, men, wild animals, lions, etc. There is also an interesting description in the saga of Sigurd: 'in that place many things from the past are depicted; Asen, Volsungen and Gjukungen 106 are cast in metal, so ingeniously that they give the impression of being alive and joining in

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the competition.' Idrisi's work also contains a passage about this statues; he speaks of two rows of bronze figures 107 that are so cleverly made that they throw even highly-skilled artists into despair. All these men, horses and lions were more than life-size. The last of the authors to see the sculpted figures on the spina was Robert de Clari. He speaks of statues of men and woman, horses and cattle, camels, bears, lions and many other animals, all made out of bronze and executed with great truth to nature. The meaning of these figures completely escaped Clari - as it did the other authors mentioned here; as far as the French nobleman was concerned they were dolls, which had formerly been magically charmed into playing and moving, but which could now no longer be made to move. 108 In 1204 all this was destroyed; Nicetas Choniates describes how many bronze statues disappeared into the melting-furnace. 109 In the middle ages chariot racing and animal fighting no longer formed the only entertainment provided for the people of Constantinople. 110 While Harawi still describes a chariot race between two four-in-hands, in Sigurd the programme is made up of quite different items, such as acrobatics, fireworks, songs, and music on all sorts of instruments. Benjamin of Tudela, too, who attended the games at Christmas in about 1161, speaks about a performance by acrobats but also about fights between exotic wild animals. 111 This sort of programme was very different from the chariot races between the four factiones, known from the early Byzantine period. The fierce competition between the emperor's team and that of the empress, mentioned by Sigurd and Clari, still recalls the rivalry of the factiones. 112 During the Latin Empire the Hippodrome was used for knightly tournaments, and later, too, it was apparently used for all sorts of purposes. Both Clavijo and Buondelmonti speak about tournaments and competitions, and Bertrandon watched a shooting match by horsemen who tried to hit the target with their arrows while riding at full gallop. Not only the figures on the spina fell prey to the Crusaders in 1204; the bronze quadriga above the carceres was also destroyed. The doge appropriated to himself the four bronze horses, and had them taken to Venice where since the middle of the thirteenth century they have continued to grace the gable of San Marco. 113 Perhaps Harun-ibn-Yahya and Harawi are also referring to this group of statues when they

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speak of three bronze horses at the entrance to the imperial palace. 114 A few hundred years later Buondelmonti and Bertrandon de la Broquiere believed they saw the bases of the Venetian horse statues near the column of Constantine and the Column of the Augusteion respectively. A passage by Nicetas Choniates makes it clear, however, that they were to be found at the Hippodrome, and not elsewhere in the city. 115 Much attention was attracted in the middle ages by a monument part of which can still be seen on the site of the old Hippodrome: the snake-pillar of Delphi, erected in memory of the battle of Plataeae in 479 B.C., and originally intended as a base for the golden tripod, dedicated to Apollo. 116 This monument was probably already transported to Constantinople in the fourth century A.D., but it is not known where it was then erected. 117 It is remarkable that it is not until the fourteenth century that the snake monument appears in descriptions of the Hippodrome. Apart from a brief mention by Nicetas Choniates 118 (circa 1204) nothing is said about this remarkable monument before 1350. 119 For this reason I doubt whether the snake pillar was already on the spina in the Hippodrome in the ninth century, as Mtiller-Wiener states in the Bildlexikon. 120 On the grounds of the references in the travel descriptions I consider it probably to have been placed there in the early Palaeologian period. The question as to how the snake monument escaped devastation at the hands of the Franks is a difficult one, but it is not impossible that the magic powers that were attributed to this remarkable bronze object -driving snakes out of the city, curing snakes' bites and giving immunity to poison - were responsible for it being preserved. From about 1350 onward the monument is mentioned in almost every description. 121 The tripod had already dis~ppeared long before, but all the heads were then still intact. Its function as an amulet against snake poison is mentioned by several authors. 122 One can also get some impression of a number of legends that were associated with this monument; the anonymous Russian writer tells how the snakes were believed to twist themselves round three times a year; on feast days, according to Buon123 delmonti, water, wine and milk flowed from the three heads. Whether this indicates that it was used as a fountain and connected up to a water supply is not clear. Pero Tafur mentions only two snakes, but he was probably mistaken, for there are no indications that the monument was

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damaged before the Turkish period. 124 In the sixteenth century it was no longer complete, and by the eighteenth century all the heads with the upper part of the column had disappeared. One of the heads was found near the pillar during excavations in 1848, and is now in the archaeological museum. 125 As well as the snake pillar two obelisks still stand in the Hippodrome: the obelisk of Thoutmosis Ill (14901436) from Karnak, which was erected on the spina by the city prefect Proclus in 390, on the orders of Theodosius I; and one made towards the end of the fourth century A.D., which in the middle of the tenth century was covered with gilded bronze plates by Constantinus VII Porphyrogenitus. 126 The bronze obelisk is mentioned several times by travellers: Harawi speaks of it, and Ignatius of Smolensk apparently also saw this monument while it was still intact. At the time of Buondelmonti's visit, however, the covering had already disappeared; he mentions an obelisk about 58 ells high, made up of many stones. A more detailed description is given to the almost twenty-foot-high obelisk put up by Theodosius. The fact that this enormous block of stone rested on its base on only four small copper supports aroused much admiration. 127 The story about the sixteen figures with brooms which the anonymous Russian says surrounded the obelisk is quite incomprehensible to me. They were said to have been responsible for keeping the city clean at the time of Leo the Wise! Harawi notes the story that the stone pillar swayed with the wind. Zosimus only mentions the pedestal, about five metres high, and estimates the height of the obelisk as about 60 sagenes. Clavijo speaks of a height of six lances, while Buondelmonti mentions a height of 44 ells, and also notes the Latin inscription on the base. He is the only author who pays any attention to this, for several years before him Clavijo saw the other, Greek inscription 128 on the base, but because it was already late his companions would not wait while somebody translated the text for him! It is said, Clavijo remarks, that the obelisk was erected in commemoration of some important event, but he does not go into the question of what it was. He did wonder, however, how it had been possible to erect an obelisk of this sort. The fact that the answer is shown in relief on its base apparently escaped his notice. 129 Pero Tafur draws a comparison between the obelisk in Rome, 130 erected by Caesar, and the one in the Hippodrome. The purpose of the monument was not clear to him; he notes

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the tradition that Constantine was buried in its base. Pero Tafur also records, in the vicinity of the Hippodrome, several typically medieval stories. A statue of which one hand was missing led to a story about the ''just judge' who passed judgment in commercial transactions. The story about the bath-house near the Hippodrome (perhaps in the remains of the Thermae of Zeuxippus, 131 which were already in a state of delapidation in the tenth century) in which women underwent a sort of chastity test, shows a great resemblance to a story by the anonymous Russian writer about two statues at the entrance to the Hippodrome, which barred the entry of women who were guilty of adultery. Although Pero Tafur records these stories, it must be said in his favour that he had little faith in them being true.

5. The statue of Justinian I on horseback From the Augusteion, a square 132 to the south of the Hagia Sophia, rose an immense column, topped by a bronze statue of a man on horseback. Because of its great size this statue attracted the attention of countless visitors; in the various travel descriptions it is the most mentioned item after the Hagia Sophia, and sometimes it even takes first place in descriptions of the monuments of Constantinople. 133 The Greek inhabitants included this column among the Seven Wonders of the World, 134 and it was also regarded as a wonder by western Europeans, Russians and Arabs. The column was visible from a great distance outside the city; Harawi states that the monument could already be seen from the sea a day's voyage away, and al-Wardi adds that when travellers overland came within a half-day's journey of the city they could already see the figure of the horseman looming up ahead. 135 The height of the column was about 35 metres, and it was so thick that it took three grown men with outstretched arms to encircle it. 136 According to Clavijo the horse and rider were about three to four times life-size, 137 but because they were so high up this was hardly noticeable. Bertrandon de la Broquiere's remark is perhaps significant with regard to the immense size of the statue: he says that he does not understand how people ever got the horseman up on the top of the column. The great amount of evidence by Byzantine 138 and other authors makes it possible to reconstruct a reasonably reliable picture of this statue, although it has already been gone for some five centuries. Procopius'

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description dates from the period when the monument was put up by Justinian I (about 543). Procopius gives a fairly detailed description, and also explains what the official meaning of this equestrian statue was. 139 It was an emperor, facing towards the east with an orb in his hand, bidding the Persians to stay outside the Byzantine Empire and not to attack it. His description is followed by a short passage in the work of Constantinus Rhodius about the Church of the Hagii Apostoli (lOth century). 140 The texts of two fourteenth-century Byzantine authors, Pachymeres and Nicephorus Gregoras, are more detailed. 141 The work of the latter is particularly interesting, because in 1325, while restoration work was being carried out on the monument, he had an opportunity to climb to the top of the column and to examine the figure of the horseman from nearby. The Augusteion monument is not only known from the descriptions by Byzantine authors, but also from a fifteenth-century drawing. In a manuscript which originated in the Serail in Constantinople, but which has been in the university library in Budapest since 1877, 142 there is a drawing of a man on a horse which is generally identified with the equestrian statue of Justinian in the Augusteion. The theory published in 1959 by Phyllis Williams Lehmann, that this drawing was not made from the statue of Justinian on the column, but from a medallion, now lost, of Theodosius I is one that I am unable to accept, because her argument depends too much upon hypotheses. In my opinion Mango 143 has shown the absurdity of many of Williams Lehmann's claims. I would just like to add to his arguments one drawn from the many travellers' tales. From what is said by travellers from all parts of the then inhabited world it appears that it was precisely the statue of Justinian I that attracted attention and admiration. When in a manuscript drawn up in Constantinople a drawing appears of an emperor on horseback a connection with this equestrian statue seems likely, particularly if no strong arguments can be found against this being so. The fact that the drawing and the descriptions do not completely fit in with each other is due partly to the vagueness of the descriptions and partly to the fact that what we are dealing with is a fifteenth century drawing, and not a photograph. An analysis of what the various travellers recorded about this column places us half way between truth and fable. Whereas in describing the monument people do tend to keep to what they saw, in interpreting it they frequently give their

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imagination free rein. The descriptions are mostly superficial, since details could hardly be seen, or not at all, because of the great distance. Moreover, it has to be taken into account that in a number of cases what we have are simply copies of older descriptions. 144 The column was solid, and consisted of blocks of marble carefully fixed together with metal clamps. The monument stood on a pedestal consisting of seven steps which were originally covered with copper plates. 145 On the top there was a stone slab, or a series of slabs, several square metres in area, on which stood the gilded bronze statue. 146 Three of the horse's feet were fixed to the stone slab, but the right forefoot was raised, according to Harawi and Clavijo, as if the animal was stepping forward. The horse was fastened to the stone slab with chains; the gradual impoverishment of Constantinople can be gathered from (amongst other things) the fact that Harun-ibn-Yahya speaks of silver chains, while Clavijo says that the horse was fastened down all round with iron chains. It is probable that during one of the works of restoration, perhaps that of 1325, the silver chains were replaced by others of less noble metal. The horseman was dressed in the garments of an emperor and wore a special head-dress. Harun speaks of a golden crown, set with pearls and rubies; Boldensele calls it an imperial diadem. Clavijo's description is probably the closest to reality: he points to the plume on the head, and this bears out what could already be deduced from other sources, especially the drawing, that the head-dress of the emperor was the toupha, the special head-gear, set with plumes, 147 which was worn on occasions of imperial triumphs. The figure of the horseman was turned towards the east, 148 and was holding up its hand in that direction. The palm was open, and the fingers slightly spread. In the other hand the rider held a golden globe or apple with a cross on top of it. It is not clear whether the horseman was also controlling the horse with this left hand; C1avijo says that he was holding the reins, but none of the other descriptions mentions this. Procopius' description brings out the meaning attached to the figure of the horseman when the statue was erected: the orb in the hand of the emperor indicated that all lands and seas were under his command. 149 The cross identified the person holding it as a Christian emperor. The right hand extended towards the sun, with the fingers outstretched, meant,

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according to Procopius, that the foreign peoples over there in the east were commanded to stay in their own territory and not to make any move in the direction of the Byzantine empire. 150 This statue of the man on horseback can thus be seen as a symbol of the power of this Christian emperor, as propaganda for his activities in the interests of his people, and as a permanent commemoration of the triumphs scored against the Persians. 151 In the later authors of travel descriptions the original meaning is hardly to be found. Harun-ibn-Yahya saw in the gesture of the hand an invitation to people to come to Constantinople. In this view he is alone, however, since most of the writers see the raised hand as a threat against enemies, rebels and heathens. 152 The position, turned towards the east, pointed, according to them, in the direction of Islam, which had been encroaching steadily ever since the seventh century; and thus the original relationship with the Persians was completely forgotten. Both Christians and Moslems came to regard the statue as a talisman, on which the protection of Constantinople depended. Clari says that the hand was directed against the heathens and that there was an inscription on the statue containing the oath that the Saracens would never be permitted to undertake any action against the city. Some authors relate the figure on the column to other smaller columns and statues in the immediate vicinity. Buondelmonti mentions a row of six columns next to the statue; Bertrandon speaks of three columns, and Clavijo, a few years previously, still saw nine of them. 153 I believe that the columns with statues of three heathen kings (mentioned by Stephanus o.f Novgorod, the anonymous Russian and Zosimus) who were kneeling down and bowing to the emperor with tribute in their hand, probably also had a place among the buildings and decorations of the square. The possibility that a number of figures of subject peoples or rulers may have formed a part of the scene of triumph around the column from the very beginning cannot be proved; but it is not inconceivable, for the fact that the smaller statues are not mentioned by travellers earlier than the fourteenth and fifteenth century, in no way proves that they did not stand in the Augusteion in previous centuries. One may also think in terms of restoration of the area surrounding the column after the devastation resulting from the Fourth Crusade and the Latin Empire. This can be no more than a suggestion, since with all eyes firmly

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fixed on the central column descriptions of the surrounding area are hardly to be expected, For Moslems too, the column was an important monument, and they were only too conscious of the threat that it expressed, Harawi interpreted the figure as follows: both Christians and Islamites were to refrain from invading each other's territory. The orb, moreover, was said to bear an inscription which stressed the transitoriness of human power: the emperor had possessed the whole world, and yet in the end had not been able to take anything away with him, The apple or orb plays an extraordinary part in various stories. Mandeville says that the apple had fallen long before then, and that this showed that the power of the emperor was to a large extent lost, and that the once-extensive Byzantine Empire was now reduced to only the Greek area, What Mandeville refers to must be what happened in 1316, when during a severe gale the apple was blown out of the hand, But during the work of restoration in 1325 the globe was put back in place, 154 so that Mandeville's claim that all attempts to do this were unsuccessful may be dismissed to the realms of fable, The .globe did not remain in place for long, however, for during Schiltberger's visit, at the beginning of the fifteenth century, the hand was again empty, He concludes from this that along with the globe the power of the emperor had also been lost. Pero Tafur also speaks of a fallen globe, which was estimated to have a capacity of sixty litres, but which nevertheless appeared, when high up in the air, to be only as big as an orange. He also mentions the sum of money involved in restoring the globe and in fixing the horse more firmly: 8,000 ducats were said to have been used for this purpose. From this we may conclude that in about 1430 - 1435 yet another attempt at restoration was undertaken, 155 In this context I would like just to refer to the Prophecy of the Apple, which played an important part in the Turkish literature and folk tales of the fifteenth century and later. 156 One may ask whether any connection can be made, and if so to what extent, between the fact that Constantinople, which was coveted by the Turks, was sometimes compared to a red apple, and the presence of a gilded apple in the hand of the talisman of the city. The notion that the apple held by the horseman may have served as pars pro toto for the whole city cannot be proved, but I do not wish to rule out the possibility that there may have been some connection, It is extremely probable that the function of the statue of

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Justinian as a talisman was the deciding factor in the fate of the statue after the conquest in 1453. Some scholars have emphasized the cultural aspirations of Sultan Mehmed II, and pointed to his frequent contacts with Italian humanists. 157 On this they base their arguments for their belief that the statue was spared, A passage in the work of the Italian Giovanni Maria Angiolello, however, leads one to suspect the opposite. 158 He describes how after the fall of the city a statue of Santa Agostino (a distortion of Augusteion, the name of the square and also of the statue in that square, 159 ) was immediately taken down on the orders of the sultan. 160 This evidence is all the more likely to be true when one considers the anti-Turkish magical power that was unanimously believed to be exerted by the statue. The mere fact that in the Nuremberg Chronicle of Hartmann Schedel 161 of 1490 the statue is depicted as standing on the column is no proof that the statue was then still in existence. After all, it is not certain to what extent Schedel's drawings were based upon personal observation. Considering that throughout the fifteenth century Buondelmonti's city plans were extremely well-known, and that in them the column is shown with the equestrian statue on top, the likelihood that Schedel simply copied this traditional information is great. 162 After the horseman had been removed the column remained in place for a number of years; in about 1515-1520 a gale finally put an end to it. By then hardly anything remained of the surrounding galleries of pillars in the square; the Frenchman Pierre Gilles observed only seven columns. 163 When the statue of the horseman was taken down by Mehmed II, it was probably not completely destroyed; 164 the fear that its destruction might cause some great disaster may have had something to do with this. There are indications that the statue was taken to the Topkapi Seraglio, 165 and it was there, in 1544, that Pierre Gilles saw parts of precisely this immense statue disappear into the melting ovens of the canon foundry. 166 The question of which emperor it was on horseback on the column high above the city does not receive quite the same answer in the various versions. Most of the authors state that it was Justinian I, 167 but three others are also named: Constantine, Heraclius and Theodosius. The identification with the founder of the city, Constantine, is found in several Arab writers, and in two western writers from round about 1430. 168 The fact that the Arab writers were not particularly familiar with the history of Byzantium and so show a tendency

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simply to associate all old monuments with the well-known name of Constantine is quite understandable. It is more difficult to see why in about 1430 both Pero Tafur and Bertrandon de la Broquiere also name Constantine as the horseman on the column. We can only suppose that at that time a secondary tradition was still alive about the identity of the horseman, and that even in Constantinople it was no longer known generally who it was who had put up this imposing statue. Clari's belief that it was the emperor Heraclius can be dismissed immediately as an invention of his own. What may have been partly behind it was the fact that shortly before his time a literary work had appeared in France about this celebrated emperor, who had defeated the Persians and won back the true Cross. 169 The name of Theodosius is only found in some of the manuscripts of Buondelmonti; this emperor is also mentioned in the inscription belonging with the drawing in Budapest. The text of the drawing reads: FON GLORIAE PERENNIS THEODOSI, and although this text is certainly corrupt 170 the word Theodosius is undeniably present. In the passage which occurs in three manuscripts of Buondelmonti's Liber insularum 171 it is said 'to this very day' people believed the horseman to be Justinian, but that now, with the possibility of going up to the top of the column, it had appeared that an inscription on the horse and rider said that it was Theodosius. 172 In two of these manuscripts the text on the accompanying plans of the city has been changed to: Theodosius in equo eneo. 173 These emendations were made between 1420, when Buondelmonti's work appeared, and 1481. 174 When the Budapest drawing was done cannot be said for certain. The names of Cyriacus of Ancona and John Darius, which occur two pages further on in the same manuscript175 led Williams Lehman to date the drawing as of 1454, but as Mango has rightly pointed out, the connection between the names and the drawing is not entirely certain, and the drawing could just as well have been done several decennia earlier. 176 It is practically certain that the artist must have seen the object from near-by, and in that case there remain, as our knowledge stands at present, two possibilities: the restoration in the thirties, mentioned by Pero Tafur, or the time when the horseman was removed, shortly after 1453. In any case the discovery of the name of Theodosius on the horse can explain the incorrect identification of the rider. The inscription 'Theodosius' that appears

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to have been written on horse and rider, can point in only one direction: that Justinian used an older statue for his monument. This procedure, which was sometimes employed in antiquity, is moreover, confirmed by ancient sources. 177 Only the question of whether the statue originated from Theodosius I or II cannot be answered with certainty, although attribution to Theodosius II is to be preferred. 178 The descriptions by the travellers have nothing to say about all these complicating factors; for them the great monument was a reminder of the time when the city was still powerful under a celebrated ruler.

6. Monumental columns As well as the column of Justinian the city of Constantinople had several other monumental columns: of Theodosius I in the Forum Tauri, of Arcadius in the Forum Arcadii, laid out by that emperor on the hill of Xerolophos; and Constantine's in the Forum Constantini. 179 These pillars also rose some 35 metres or more above the city, and formed an accepted part of the sky-line of Constantinople which loomed up in front of approaching travellers; 180 yet in the travel accounts much less is written about them than about the column of the Augusteion. There was certainly no lack of interest in these monuments; in Harawi the presence of the many obelisks and tall columns is especially stressed, and this author also promises to pay particular attention to these tall columns in a book specially devoted to Constantinople (which has been lost). 181 In Stephanus of Novgorod, too, we read that he has admired at length with great attention and amazement, these marvellous, high-soaring monuments of copper and stone. Hardly any idea can be obtained, from the surviving descriptions, of the impression made on visitors by the other great columns; there are few references to them, and such information as is given is not detailed. Why the column of Justinian I occurs so frequently in the descriptions and the others so infrequently is hard to say. It may be pointed out,however, that the column in the Augusteion stood in front of the entrance of the Hagia Sophia, and thus shared in the attraction exerted by that famous church. The fact that there was a figure on horseback on top of the column may, in my opinion, also have had something to do with the matter. The column of Theodosius I and that of his son Arcadius must have been practicaily identical. 182 Both were covered from top to bottom with relief work, both could also be

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183

climbed by a spiral staircase on the inside of the column. Like the column in the Augusteion these two relief-decorated columns were also included by the inhabitants among the marvels of the city. 184 The column of Theodosius was erected in about 386 following a triumph won by this emperor over the Barbarians. 185 In 394 a statue of the emperor was placed on the column, but in 480 it fell off as the result of an earthquake. From the middle of the sixth century onward there was probably no statue on the column. 186 The same is true of the column of Arcadius, which was begun in about the year 400, and dedicated in 421 under Theodosius II. In an earthquake in 740 the emperor's statue fell to the ground. 187 In the middle ages their place was taken by the hermits mentioned by Clari, who opted for a lonely existence high above the bustle of the city. The significance of the bands of relief appears to have sunk into oblivion quite early on. Harawi speaks only of a column made of white marble and covered with countless reliefs, which was said to act as a talisman of the city. 188 Many centuries later even Buondelmonti has nothing to say about it beyond the fact that all round it there were 'acta imperatorum sculpta', while Zosimus contents himself with the remark that on the column there were inscriptions about everything under the sun. Even for the Byzantine inhabitants the meaning of the scenes, triumphs, defeated Barbarians, a solemn entry by the emperor, battles on horseback, ships, a figure falling overboard, the taking of cities- was no longer clear; 189 people came to attribute a prophetic character to the reliefs, and it is this aspect that was taken over by crusaders such as Villehardouin and Clari. 190 After the capture of the city the Byzantine Emperor Alexius V Murzuphlus was killed, at the suggestion of the Doge, by throwing him off the top of the column of Theodosius. In this connection Villehardouin remarks that the prophecy contained in the image on the column - the figure of a falling emperor (?) - was thus true. Clari, who says that the column was 50 shields high and three armlengths thick, also emphasizes the providential character of the pictures: he interprets the ships he saw on the column as the fleet in which the crusaders had arrived. 191 It has already been described, in the chapters about the fourth crusade and Tiobert de Clari, how these two columns with their innumerable scenes

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played a large part in the attempts to justify the expedition after the event. After this evidence from the crusaders nothing more remains to be said about the two 'colonnae istoriatae', The columns continued to defy the ages undamaged, - that of Theodosius until 1509 or 1517 when an earthquake or hurricane caused it to collapse, and that of Arcadius until the eighteenth century. This column, which had been damaged by fires in the seventeenth century and was in a delapidated state, was only finally pulled down in 1715. 192 After 1204 there is no further mention by travellers of these columns. Admiring looks were also directed at the porphyry column of Constantine, which was erected in 328 in the Forum Constantini. This column, which was over 50 metres high, was constructed from nine immense porphyry drums, and originally supported a statue of the emperor as sun god. 193 From 328 to 1106 the founder of the city towered above his capital; then in heavy weather the statue of the emperor collapsed, together with three of the drums. 194 In the twelfth century the column was restored, with a large cross replacine the emperor on the top, The earliest evidence from travellers about this column dates from the fourteenth century. Stephanus of Novgorod mentions the ancient but unfounded tradition that the porphyry blocks came from Rome. 195 On the top he sees the Cross, and he also mentions the medieval tradition that pagan and Christian relics were kept in the column. 196 The anonymous Russian writer speaks of the fifteen iron bands which held the porphyry drums firmly in place, These bands were put on as early as 418, when part of one of the lower drums broke off. 197 He also mentions some relics which were said to be kept in the column, Zosimus refers to this fact, too; only the contents of the collection of relics varies somewhat from one author to another. Buondelmonti connects the four small porphyry columns in the vicinity of the columna crucis with the four bronze horses stolen in 1204 by the Venetians. He gives no foundation for this tradition, so that to my mind the belief that the horses originated from the Hippodrome continues to be preferable, Perhaps it was the number four that led to this incorrect belief on Buondelmonti's part. The most important pagan relic, which according to various Byzantine authors, had been brought by Constantine from Rome to his new capital, and buried under the column

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he erected there, was the Palladium; this had been rescued from Troy by Aeneas and later preserved in Rome for centuries as an object of great veneration. 198 In the travel accounts this Palladium is never mentioned. Clandestine excavations in the twentieth century, in which a serious search seems to have been made for the Palladium and other treasures, yielded as far as we know, nothing but the remains of the necropolis which was filled in and smoothed over in the fourth century. 199 Only three authors - Buondelmonti, Zosimus and the anonymous Armenian - refer to a column near the church of the Holy Apostles in the west of the city. On this, according to them, stood a bronze group consisting of an angel with a staff in his hand and Constantine, kneeling down, offering a model of his city to this heavenly protector. In fact it is a group set up by Michael VIII after the recapture of the city, and represents St. Michael, with Emperor Michael offering him a model of the city which he has founded anew. 200

?. Palaces The various palaces of Constantinople made a great impression on visitors because of their size, but even more because of their splendour. In many of the travel accounts these palaces are mentioned but from an analysis of the contents of these accounts it appears that only a few of the travellers actually saw the inside of the palaces. Envoys and members of the high nobility naturally had little difficulty in obtaining access to the emperor, 201 but most of the authors had to be content with the stories that were told about the imperial palaces. 202 The position of Harun-ibnYahya, who claims that as a prisoner he sat down to a meal in the Great Imperial palace, is not clear. 203

The Great Imperial Palace The history of the building of the imperial palace, which was begun by Constantine on the hill in the east of the city, is still not entirely clear. 204 The complex was repeatedly altered, enlarged and embellished by his successors, so that the original structure can no longer be traced with certainty. The first thing that struck visitors was the extremely high and strong wall round it; in the words of Stephanus of Novgorod it was like a great city. 205 According to Harun, who gives a detailed description of the palace,

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there were three entrances: one at the Hippodrome, one in the Mangana area, and one near the Sea of Marmara which led directly from the water. The emperor's rooms were reached by way of great vestibules, where the guards stood, 206 and where there were four rooms used as a prison. 207 On the subject of the interior Harun says that the great halls were decorated with slabs of marble, mosaics and paintings. In the inner courts there were all kinds of elegant fountains, 208 statues and groups of sculptures 209 made of costly materials. The wealth of the emperors is illustrated by the gold and silver tableware, that was, moreover, adorned with costly precious stones. Harun's interest was particularly aroused by an organ that was played during the meal. Liudprand's description of the receptions and meals at the Byzantine court bears this out; he, too, emphasizes the wealth and splendour, and also the presence there of many technical marvels. 2 lO The palace chapel visited by Odo of Deuil- the New Church, or the little chapel of Mary on the Pharos plateau 211 - contained all sorts of rare and costly relics, the place of honour being occupied by the Holy Cross relic, The great palace was the imperial residence up to the eleventh century. With the building of the Blachernae palace it lost part of its importance, although official state receptions continued to be held there. 212 It is certain, however, that some parts of it had already fallen into decay, or been plundered and broken up by the emperors themselves in order to use the materials for the construction of new buildings. 213 In 1204 the crusaders found the palace in a state of decay; thus Villehardouin and Clari do not mention the Great Imperial Palace. Michael VIII took up residence there in 1261 for a short time, but in the Palaeologian time the palace was never completely restored. Later emperors moved into the Blachernae palace, and completely gave up the old residence. 214 This may explain why pilgrims like Ignatius of Smolensk and the anonymous Russian writer of about 1390 could wander through the buildings on the way to the churches with relics which were situated there. The anonymous writer makes special mention of the damage done by the crusaders to the pieces of sculpture which were still present here and there. The damaged monument with the animal figures in one of the courts shows a great resemblance to a fountain described by Harun many centuries earlier, but it is not certain whether the object described is in fact the same one.

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Buondelmonti found only the delapidated remains of the old palace. He merely remarks that the palace had been laid out by Justinian I in former times, together with the Hagia Sophia and the Hippodrome, and he also mentions the colonnade that led to the Hagia Sophia. 215 He does not show much interest in the whole complex of buildings, for even the richly-decorated New church and the great Pharos he dismisses in one short sentence. Bucoleon Palace Although the Bucoleon Palace 216 was close to the Great Palace it is almost certain that it was not originally connected to it. This palace begun in the fifth century and situated on the Sea of Marmara, was probably only included in the growing complex of the Imperial Palace in later centuries. The name Bucoleon is said to be derived from a piece of sculpture placed near the Little harbour, representing a lion and a bull fighting. This name was not understood by the Crusaders: they refer to Bocca di leone, Boche de lion, or even Os leonis.~l 7 When the city was divided up in 1204 the Bucoleon Palace fell to Bonifatius of Montferrat, who immediately took possession of the immense treasures in that palace. 218 Clari gives a short description of the Bucoleon complex, to which parts of the Imperial Palace, such as the New Church, probably also belonged. He counted, he says, some five hundred rooms, each covered with gold mosaic, and thirty chapels, large and small. The Sainte Chapelle (New Church?) was so rich that even the bolts and chains were not made of iron or copper, but of silver. Everywhere was the shine of white marble, porphyry and jasper, and there were precious stones in unbelievable quantities. To accuse Robert de Clari of exaggeration would certainly not be correct; the immense wealth of the Byzantine emperors is a motif that recurs continually in the period before 1204. 219 After the Bucoleon Palace had been the residence of western princes during the Latin period it was abandoned by the Palaeologians. It is not referred to by any travellers after Clari. A pile of bones in the vicinity of this palace was the only thing that still attracted attention. According to Brocardus-Adam these were the remains of the Franks who had been killed in 1261 by Michael VIII. Buondelmonti also mentions these bones, and believes them to have belonged to Franks who - perhaps 50,000 in number! - had been cunningly

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killed by the Greeks. Bertrandon de la Broquiere connects the remains with Crusaders who had been killed during the expedition of Godfrey of Bouillon. It is indeed likely that the pile of bones in the crypt were those of westerners; but on which occasion they met their death - whether 1097, or 1261, 220 or perhaps in the risings in about 1~70- remains uncertain.

Blachernae Palace The most visited and described palace in Constantinople was that of Blachernae, at the north-western extremity of the city, near the wall of Theodosius. 221 After some imperial lodgings had first been installed in the buildings adjacent to the church of Mary of Blachernae, built in the fifth century, Alexius I (1081-1118) began, between 1081 and 1090, to build a palace there. This had great advantages: the new palace was smaller and more efficient than the enormous complex built by Constantine. Moreover, it was easier to defend, and was favourably situated, on the outskirts of the city but also close to the harbour in the Golden Horn. 222 The leaders of the first crusade were received there by the emperor in ~096; Sigurd of Norway followed their example some years later (1107) and in 1147 Odo of Deuil entered this palace in the train of his king. It was, he writes, built up high, surrounded by three walls, and it offered a magnificent view over the city, the harbour and the countryside beyond the walls. While the exterior already presented a princely appearance, the inside of the palace exceeded every expectation: everywhere there were costly materials, gold, precious stones, marble, mosaic in many different colours - and all worked with unexcelled artistry. Several years after Odo, Benjamin of Tudela visited the palace, and his description confirms that of his predecessor. In the meantime Alexius' grandson Manuel I (114380) had extended the palace, a fact that is mentioned by Benjamin. The walls, he says, were of gold, and on them were depicted not only former wars and victories, but also recent ones. 223 The throne was of gold, and was set with precious stones, and a crown richly adorned with stones hung on a golden chain above the emperor's head. Precious stones flashed all around and were said to light the room brightly even in the dark. 2 24 According to Benjamin there were countless marvels to be seen in this palace. The Blachernae Palace, with its enormous wealth, also fell prey to the crusaders in 1204; it was assigned - so says

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Villehardouin - to Henry of Flanders, who eagerly took possession of its great treasures. Clari's description gives a picture of the riches involved: a palace with two hundred rooms, all decorated with gold and mosaics, with twenty chapels, and so richly furnished that Clari could find no words to describe it. In the treasure chamber the crowns of former emperors could still be seen, and furthermore there were enormous quantities of jewels, precious stones, and silver and purple garments. Here, too, there is no reason to believe that he exaggerates; this goes to show how great was the disaster and how much was then lost. As residence of the Latin emperors the Blachernae Palace fell into disrepair. Under the Palaeologians, however, extensive restoration work was carried out, and the palace became the offical residence of this dynasty. 225 It was here that Michael VIII had his victory at the battle of Berat painted on the walls; 226 in this palace Ibn Battuta was received in 1332. He tells how he entered the palace by way of four gates, and after being subjected to a thorough search he was admitted to the audience chamber. There he saw all kinds of mosaics showing living creatures -probably biblical 227 and historical scenes, such as the battle of Berat - and also figurative decorations, of the sort more familiar to a Moslem, in which no people or animals were depicted. 228 His description of a fountain and water channel in the audience chamber poses some problems; it is possible that there real299 ly was such an object there, to keep the reception hall cool, but it is equally possible that this fountain was only a picture in mosaic. Ibn Battuta's description is not quite clear on this point. 230 At the beginning of the fifteenth century the Blachernae Palace was already in a state of partial disrepair. 231 Clavijo speaks of ravages carried out by an emperor whose son was imprisoned there; probably he is referring to the events of 1354 in the struggle between John VI Cantacuzenus and Johnn V Palaeologus.:z. 32 The church of St. 1\Iary, was still intact, however, round 1400, and was still in regular use. This, too, was a three-nave basilica, with a raised central nave. 233 Clavijo speaks of green jasper columns on bases of white marble; the ceiling was gilded, and still appeared as new, although here and there in the church traces of decay could already be seen. The use of jasper on a large scale is specially mentioned; the altar and ambo were extremely costly, and the furniture, too, was both valuable

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and magnificent. The roof of this church was made of lead, a durable and expensive material that is also mentioned in several places as covering the Hagia Sophia, In the fifteenth century the church decayed rapidly: Bertrandon observes that the church, though not large, was extremely beautiful; but the roof, he thought, was no longer in very good condition. A few years later, in 1434, the church building was struck by lightning and destroyed by fire. Pero Tafur saw only the ruins of this church, which 'so people say' was built by Helena, Pero Tafur's description gives a clear picture of what was still left: the palace which had formerly been so beautiful was in a pitiful state. Only a small part of the buildings was still habitable, and in that limited space an attempt was made, in spite of these straitened circumstances, to keep up the full court ritual. He does not say anything about the inside of the imperial appartments; all he mentions is the library in an open loggia near the entrance, The splendour of the palaces of Constantinople is also reflected in several literary works, such as the epic of Digenis Akritas and the French story about the journey of Charlemagne to Jerusalem and Constantinople. In the version that grew up in the twelfth century, probably under the influence of the Second Crusade, 234 of the older medieval legend about Charlemagne's visit to Jerusalem based on the diplomatic contacts between Charlemagne and Calif Harftn-al-Raschid, considerable space is devoted to the palace of King Hugo. All sorts of motifs are found in the description of this palace; 235 besides French, Irish and classical Roman motifs one can also distinguish contemporary Greek elements, which undoubtedly go back to the personal observations of people who took part in the crusades. In the two statues which sounded the trumpet in times of storm, one can almost certainly recognize the statues with trumpets which could be seen on the side of the Bucoleon Palace facing the sea. The golden objects in the palace that moved mechanically, such as roaring lions with waving tails, or golden birds singing in a tree, remind one of Liudprand's description and seem to me to indicate personal observation on the part of visitors. 236 The emphasis which the story places on the great wealth of King Hugo may be regarded as a borrowing from the popular fantasy in which fabulously wealthy fairy-tale castles are quite normal

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phenomena; but on the other hand these riches did actually exist in the palaces of Constantinople, as may be seen from the accounts of visitors who were permitted to enter these buildings. The same can be said of the palace on the Euphrates, built by the hero Digenis Akritas; 237 this description, too, is based both on fairy-tale elements and on the palaces of Constantinople of that time.

8. Water Supply For a large city such as Constantinople to be fit to live in, a good water supply was essential. 238 In most of the towns and villages from which the foreign visitors came such provision was completely unknown. The aqueducts, cisterns, fountains and thermae thus attracted the notice and admiration of countless visitors to the city. The most striking part of the water supply system was a section of the aqueduct of Valens (of 308) carried by high arches across a depression between two hills in the central area of the city. 239 Harun-ibn-Yahya is one of the literary sources 240 that mention water from 'Bulgaria', that was transported over the distance of a twenty day's journey Whether the water conduits did indeed extend so far north is something that modern archaeological research has not yet been able to ascertain, although far into Thrace the remains of an aqueduct have been discovered. 241 In the city, according to Harfrn, the supply was split up into three parts: one for the palace, a second for the Muhammedan prison (?) and a third branch for the patricians. This water, which according to Harfrn and Odo of Deuil had a slightly salt taste, was also plentifully available to the ordinary inhabitants. Odo of Deuil speaks of underground channels that took the water to every part of the city. Large parts of the water channels are known to have fallen into disrepair in the course of the twelfth to thirteenth century; they were only repaired and brought into use again by the Turks. 242 The fact that the water supply system fell into disuse in this way can also be seen to some extent from the travel descriptions. Only Clavijo still mentions the aqueduct of Valens near the Church of the Hagii Apostoli. From this it may be concluded that in about 1400 this aqueduct was still used for the provision of drinking water and the irrigation of gardens in that part of the city. The statement by al-Wardi that this aqueduct was one of the wonders of the world doubtless goes back to a very early source, and thus has no special significance. The

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majority of post-twelfth century authors no longer refer to aqueducts and underground conduits, but only to the great number of cisterns. At present we know of seventy-one cisterns, large and small, in Constantinople, 2 ~ 3 but the possibility cannot be ruled out that even more may still be discovered in the future. 2 ~~ Various authors mention cisterns, but it is not usually possible to locate them and to identify them. 2 ~ 5 On the grounds of the unanimous evidence of many travellers I consider it certain that particular spaces in the cellars and the walls of the Hagia Sophia were used as water reservoirs. 2 ~ 6 There is a nice note by Antonius of Novgorod to the effect that these cisterns were used as coolers in which fruit and vegetables for the emperor and the patriarch were kept. The patriarch apparently also had his own bathroom in the Hagia Sophia. Buondelmonti gives a list of a number of cisterns which he found either in ruins or still in use in the fifteenth century. It appears that the majority of the monastery complexes had their own water supply; this not only provided for the needs of the inhabitants, but also for the watering of the estates. Buondelmonti also mentions the long rows of pillars in some of the cisterns, which formed an attractive sight. The cistern of Muhammed mentioned by Clavijo and Buondelmonti was probably the Philoxenos cistern near the Hippodrome.2~7 The cistern created by a reconstruction in the sphendone, which is referred to by Buondelmonti, has already been mentioned in connection with the Hippodrome. 2 ~ 8 Thermal buildings are also referred to several times in the travellers' descriptions. The anonymous Russian author speaks at some length about the thermae installed by Leo the Wise, which were accessible to every citizen free of charge. Although the story is embellished with charming fantasies about an eternally-burning lamp, and a bowman with weapon at the ready, the gist of the matter is certainly true: the bath-house was intended for the whole population, and was accessible to everyone without payment. The indication that it was the crusaders who put an end to the use of these thermae also seems to be credible Pero Tafur also speaks of an old tale connected with the baths (Zeuxippus thermae), in which two statues which stood there play a leading part. 2 ~ 9 Buondelmonti's thermae or hospital near the Hippodrome

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were perhaps situated in the same building. There is no reference to the many fountains which undoubtedly served to cool the air at many points in the city. Only the remarkable fountain in one of the courts of the Great palace is mentioned by Haran-ibn-Yahya; 250 Buondelmonti picked up a story that was current about the serpentine column, that on certain feast days squirted wine, milk and water from its three heads. 251

9. Other buildings Concluding this survey of the monuments in Constantinople there remain a few buildings and objects which were only mentioned by one or two authors. Harun-ibn-Yahya refers to the horologium, situated near the Hagia Sophia: this was a small building in which twentyfour windows had been made, and at the end of each hour one of them automatically opened. This technical marvel was attributed to Bolonious, by which he means Apollonius of Tyana, the famous miracle worker of antiquity. Harawi refers to this same building, but mentions only twelve windows , out of which one figure keeps on appearing. Harawi is also the only writer to refer to the anemodoulion, the immense weather vane, which was counted as one of the Seven Wonders of Constantinople.252 He promises to give a detailed description of it in his special study of the city, which has not survived. For a reconstruction of the form and decoration of this famous monument one is thus dependent on Byzantine sources. 253 At one time there had been a planetarium in the palace of Leo the Wise, according to the anonymous Russian. By the fourteenth century, however, the great hall with its domed roof had already long been deserted and had fallen into decay. The judges' pavilion described by Ibn Battuta and situated in the vicinity of the Hagia Sophia may perhaps 254 be the building of the patriarchate. The nine columns which Clavijo saw in front of the church, and on which he believes a palace to have stood formerly, undoubtedly belong to the same complex. Probably as early as the eighth century Constantinople already possessed a mosque, 255 where Moslems living in the city could fulfil their religious obligations. Harawi is the only traveller to mention this building, the exact position and construction of which are not known. In the Byzantine Empire there was apparently a certain degree of religious tolerance, in spite of the political struggle against Islam.

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It has already been described how in the twelfth century Latin Christians stormed the mosque in the city, but found themselves in collision not only with Arab defenders, but also with Greeks. 256 The fact that in about 1050 a new mosque was built and furnished by Emperor Constantine IX Monomachus also points to a good relationship between Greeks and Arabs at that time. Under Michael VIII (1261-1282) this mosque was apparently thoroughly renovated, 257 a piece of information contributed by the Arab Makrisi.

10. GaZata - Pera The western settlement in Galata dates originally from after 1267, when the Genoese were allowed to establish themselves in that place, Previously there had been a separate Jewish quarter in the area north of the Golden Horn. 258 In spite of the limitations to which Jews were subjected, and in spite of the bad treatment they often received from the Greeks 259 they nevertheless lived there in relative prosperity. The first mention of the Genoese settlement of Pera in any of the authors 260 dealt with here is the passage in the work of Brocardus-Adam, who draws a comparison between prosperous, wealthy and thickly-populated Pera and enfeebled Constantinople. Adam's rather exaggerated praise is almost immediately reduced to its proper proportions by the downto-earth description of Ibn Battuta, who concedes that the harbour was one of the busiest in the world, but who cannot find much to admire, on the other hand, in the dirty streets, shops and churches. Ibn Battuta also refers to the relationship between the Byzantine emperor and the western trading colony: officially the inhabitants were subject to the authority of the emperor, but in practice they were governed by one of themselves who bore, according to Ibn Battuta, the title Qums (perhaps a distorted form of comes or consul). The settlement became increasingly autonomous under the rule of a Genoese podesta. With the growth of the settlement, especially in the fourteenth century, 261 it is mentioned more frequently. Pera is unanimously referred to as a settlement 262 which is 263 small but well fortified and densely populated, and these aspects are often mentioned precisely as a contrast to the thinly populated and enfeebled city on the other side of the water. 26 ~ Dozens of ships must have anchored in the Golden Horn, and small boats sailed back and forth between the two

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shores, as we read in Ibn Battuta and Schiltberger. From the descriptions - especially those of Bertrandon and Pero Tafur - I deduce that in the late fourteenth and fifteenth century the main weight of trade was in fact in Pera, and that the importance of Constantinople was lessening by leaps and bounds, No buildings in Pera are described separately, and monuments from the past were not to be found there, Clavijo mentions a tower on a hill, by which he probably means the Galata tower, which was then still in existence. The church of St. Benedict referred to by Bertrandon, was ~robably not 65 yet at that time particularly large or wealthy. In the Turkish period this building came to play an important part in the religious life of the westerners still living in Constantinople. There is no information available about this building, however, in the travellers' accounts previous to 1450.

XVIII. THE WEST COAST OF ASIA MINOR Geographically speaking the west coast of Asia Minor cannot be separated from Greece; for that reason many of those who travelled through Greek territory also visited a number of towns on the coast of Asia Minor. It was not usual, however, to go far inland, not only in the Byzantine period, but also later when the Turks ruled this region. 1 There are two reasons why people limited themselves to· the coastal area: on the one hand the usual way of travelling, by ship, must have limited the range of most of the travellers, and on the other hand there was little that was considered important to be seen inland. Nicea, Patara, Myra and Tyra, but especially Ephesus, owed the fact that they were known in medieval Europe to references in the Bible or in Church history, or to the veneration of certain wellknown saints. The interest in Troy, on the other hand, was based on knowledge of ancient literature.

1. Tray In the middle ages up till the twelfth century Troy was either unknown or merely a name to the vast majority of people; only for the men of letters did the name have a familiar ring, for many literary texts, sagas and epics were associated with Troy. 2 When Troy is mentioned in a medieval text it is necessary, as in the case of Athens, to make a distinction between a description of the contemporary situation and what people knew about Troy from literature. One important difference, however, is that in medieval Athens there were still several buildings that recalled the past, whereas of the ancient Troy of Priam nothing in fact was left. What the various visitors to the region near the entrance to the Dardanelles thought they saw of Troy were sometimes the ruins of the Roman town of Ilium, but most often the remains of the Hellenistic and Roman Alexandria Troas, more than thirty kilometres further south, on the coast. The fact is that most authors refer to a town on the coast on the plain opposite Tenedos. 3 Only Clavijo makes any distinction: he believes that Troy itself was in the plain, on the coast, but that at a place called Elion, higher up inland, there had formerly been a Trojan castle. I believe Walerand de Wavrin to be the only person who saw the right place: right at the entrance to the Dardanelles, and a little way

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from the sea.'+ In antiquity the district of Troas was densely populated;5 in the middle ages there were still large quantities of ruins in the plain opposite Tenedos, as can be seen from descriptions by different travellers. Saewulf says that the Greeks in that region assured him that what he could see were the remains of the ancient and famous city of Troy. Pero Tafur, several centuries later, had to discover this for himself, as nobody in the region could tell him anything about Troy. He had made a special journey to see Troy during his stay on the island of Chios. After a two-day journey on horseback from Fogia (Phocaea) he came to the plain opposite ·Tenedos, where over a wide area there were lumps of marble and pieces of stone strewn about in between the villages. He observes that the Turks in that place spared these remains and built their own cottages up against them. Ludolf von Sudheim writes that in his day the remains of Troy lay partly in the sea, but partly visible on land. These were pieces of marble and stone that were lodged deep in the soil; all the other material had apparently been shipped off to Venice and there re-used. 6 Boldensele says that because of their great age there were hardly any buildings left; but Buondelmonti, on the other hand says that in the area at the entrance to the Dardanelles, many antique remains were still to be seen. Pero Tafur had the same view from Tenedos; having arrived on that island he even found some Greeks who were able to give him information. The desire to see the site of ancient Troy is not present to the same extent in all the authors. For most of them one can assume that they looked with interest at the remains of the city of Troy because they happened to be passing anyway; in the case of Pero Tafur, however, going to see Troy was a matter of conscious choice, and the same is true Of the Burgundian admiral Walerand de Wavrin, who, when he was near the entrance to the Dardanelles, asked to be directed to Troy, and went on land to visit the place. Because of a battle with the Turks this undertaking came to nothing, but that in no way detracts from this fact. All the authors, however, show a certain familiarity with the concept of Troy, and their manner of presentation indicates that they also assume some knowledge of what Troy was and what it meant on the part of their readers. We may ask what thoughts were in the minds of these visitors to Troy. Some information on this score can be found

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in the accounts of their travels, but for the most part one has to look to other sources. A knowledge of the history of the Trojan war is taken for granted in the travel descriptions. Muntaner is the only author to give his own medieval version of the abduction of Helen (who he calls Arena) by Paris, and the events resulting from it. But of all the ancient sagas the story of Troy was comparatively well-known in western Europe, in limited circles up to the twelfth century and later even on a wider scale. 7 This knowledge was 8 not drawn from Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, but from Vergil's Aeneid, which was read in the schools, and from the work of Dares the Phrygian, and to a less extent that of Dictys the Cretan. 9 In western Europe Dares' version of the Trojan saga enjoyed the greatest popularity, Although this work, de Exidio Troiae, only dates from the sixth century and is an adapt.ation of a second-century Greek original, Dares was believed to have been an eye-witness of the events, which lent great authority to his version. Dictys was read more in the Byzantine-Greek area, perhaps because he adopts a pro-Greek attitude, by contrast with Dares who, like Vergil takes a pro-Trojan view. As well as these classical epics, there appeared in the twelfth century romances in which the material of the Tr@jan saga was incorporated. In about 1160 Benoit de Sainte Maure 1 s Roman de Troie appeared. 10 Benoit based it on Dares' version, but it is certain that he himself added a great deal to the story. The influence of the classical authors who wrote about Troy began to decline from now on; for the period after 1160 the information about Troy in literary works is based mainly on the romance versions. With the appearance of the romances about Troy the Trojan tales also became increasingly well-known outside intellectual circles, not only in France, but very soon further afield as well. In Italy in about ~270 the Historia destructionis Troiae appeared, by the Sicilian lawyer Guido da Colonna, 11 a work that soon found imitators. In Germany the Trojan sagas became extremely popular in the fourteenth century. 12 The basis of the Trojan romances which then appeared consists of the works of Da Colonna and those of the German epic poet Konrad von Wlirzburg. Also, from the thirteenth century onward new and reasonably reliable translations of the classical authors about Troy appeared. 13 The vast amount that was written about Troy in the thirteenth century and later suggests that the concept of

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Troy had become widely known. The testimony of the travellers, who mention Troy even if there was practically nothing to see there, and who assume that the readers are familiar with it, bears this out. The Trojan tales would probably not have continued to attract so much interest if they had not also had a historical function. In many of the sagas about the origins of different races Tray occupies a central position. Franks, Britons, Scandinavians, Saxons, Paduans and Venetians all claim to be descended from the Trojans. 14 It also appears from chronicles that not only the Roman emperors but also the Frankish and German sovereigns had a family tree that linked them to the Trojan royal house. 15 But it was not only kings and emperors who boasted of their Trojan descent; other members of the nobility also liked to emphasize their ancient descent by creating fictional genealogies, which often went back to the Trojans. As Wood has pointed out, for the medieval nobility a family tree of this sort was an indisputable advantage in their competition with the rising urban bourgeoisie. 16 It is against this background that we should see the remark which Robert de Clari, in about 1204, puts into the mouth of the Frenchman Pierre de Bracheul speaking to the Balkan sovereign John of Walachia: 'Troie fu a nos ancisseurs'. That was the reason why the Franks had 'rightly' overrun the Byzantine Empire. In the chapter about Robert de Clari and the Fourth Crusade I have already spoken of the way that people sought for some justification, after the event, for what was in fact scandalous behaviour on the part of the Crusaders in 1204. In the attempts at self-justification the idea of retribution comes in: Constantinople was captured in revenge for the injustice done to the Trojans in times past. 17 Clari is the only author of a travel account to put into words this background of Trojan descent and retribution. To what extent the sagas about descent and the ideas of revenge played a part in the accounts of other travellers is not clear. I believe it can be said that the predominantly pro-Trojan attitude in western Europe, stemming from the literature, did influence contact with the Greek population of their own day for the worse. The topos of the faithless Greeks (timeo Danaos ... ) became more and more of a reality in western eyes. A word must be said about the two noblemen, Pero Tafur and Walerand de Wavrin, who both consciously set out in the second half of the fifteenth century to look for Tray.

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Huizinga, in his Waning of the Middle Ages 18 has shown how in the middle ages the life of a knight was an imitation either of heroes from the Arthurian cycle, or of heroes from the ancient world. In the latter category not only Alexander the Great, Hercules, David, Hannibal, Caesar and Augustus played an important part, but also Paris, Hector, Priam and Troilus. These figures were no strangers; people saw them in front of them, in medieval dress, on tapestries in the palaces. 19 Such tapestries were produced in great quantities in the fourteenth, but especially in the fifteenth century. The 'Nine Heroes' and scenes from the Trojan war formed the most important subjects. Although only a few separate items from these series have survived, many series and separate items are known from inventories. 20 There is a note in a Burgundian archive that is also interesting. 21 It refers to the cost of tapestries for two rooms in a palace belonging to the Dukes of Burgundy (Philip the Good): Achat de deux chambres de tapisserie ou seroient les ystoires de Octavien et du Roy Priam de Tray. Inspired by these, people sought - in vain - for the place where these events, so familiar to them, had once, long ago, been enacted.

2. Nicea The Council of Nicea, held in 325 under the leadership of Constantine 22 was an event which the city later looked back on with pride. In the church of the Koimesis 23 portraits of the three-hundred and eighteen bishops 24 who took part in it were exhibited on the walls. When this was done is not entirely certain, as the date of the church itself is still in dispute. It is in any case certain that the pilgrim Willibaldus saw the exhibition of the council fathers early in the eight century. Probably the church had not long been completed at that time. Krautheimer dates the building as prior to 726, and considers the construction to be late seventh century or early eight century. 25 Representations of this sort, showing councils, were not unusual in the Byzantine empire in the pre-iconoclastic period. In Constantinople, at the beginning of the eight century, the six great ecumenical councils were depicted on the Milion, the central mile-stone of the city and of the whole empire. The iconoclastic Emperor Constantine V (741-775) had the whole cycle removed, and replaced by a representation of

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chariot races at the Hippodrome. 26 Whether the portraits in Nicea were also destroyed by iconoclastic hands is not apparent from the available data, but I do not by any means rule out this possibility. In that case they were painted on again after the image-breaking period, for in 1234 the Pope's legation to Emperor John Ill Vatatzes was conducted to the council church by the inhabitants on arrival, and there saw the Fathers who had participated in the council depicted on the walls. In his account Willibaldus does not give a description of the church, but he does remark that it resembles the Church of the Resurrection on the Mount of Olives, in Jerusalem. This passage is not entirely clear, as he does not say whether his comparison refers to the inside or the outside of the church. Recent excavations have brought to light parts of the Imbomon, a shrine erected in 370 by a Roman matrona, Poemonia, on the site of the Ascension. 27 The two buildings are roughly the same in size (about 20 x 20 m), but the church of Koimesis was a square building with a central dome, while the Imbomon was a round construction, the central part of which was either entirely open or was covered by a dome with a wide opening in it. 28 There are no indications that the church in Nicea was open to the sky. ~lay be some comparison was possible with regard to the interior, with marble, mosaics and possibly frescos, but it is impossible to be certain about this; the Imbomon disappeared centuries ago, while the church of Koimesis was completely destroyed in the Turkish-Greek war at the beginning of this century. 29

3. Nicomedia - Bursa Of the capital city of Nicomedia, which had flourished so greatly under the Tetrarchy, hardly anything was left in the middle ages. When the Crusaders came to this city in 1147 they found nothing but ruins, all overgrown. Odo of Deuil saw these ruins as a sign of ancient glory and also found in them an occasion for accusing the Greeks of his own time of inertia. 30 In the roughly contemporary description by Idrisi Nicomedia is referred to as a city of ruins. Buondelmonti, too, found only broken pieces of marble; from the area covered by these remains he could clearly tell that Nicomedia had formerly been a large city. In connection with Nicomedia he tells the story of a coffin in which a body was found, along with valuable jewels - crown, sceptre and sword.

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When the body was touched it immediately crumbled into dust. Whether this story refers to some real event or to a tale that had been embellished with the passing of time we cannot tell. Another Bithynic city, Prusa, present-day Bursa, only really became important in the Turkish period. In the fourteenth century Bursa was the residence of the Turkish rulers, 31 who embellished the city with mosques and costly sepulchres. Schiltberger spent some time in Bursa in the train of the sultan, and he notes that it was a very great and wealthy city, where Christians, Moslems and Jews lived together in unity. Pero Tafur made an excursion to Bursa, but neither he nor Schiltberger says anything about the ancient city of Prusa.

4. Ephesus The city of Ephesus was widely known in the middle ages because of the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, but even more because according to an ancient tradition St. John the Evangelist lived there for a number of years, and died there at an advanced age. According to a pious legend, which is repeated by several writers, 32 John is supposed to have retired, living into a cave, and then to have disappeared. Above this cave a basilica was later built; from near the main altar one could go down into the cave to venerate the saint. This grave became an extremely important shrine of pilgrimage in the early-Christian period and the middle ages. Annually, on the saint's day (December 27) a miracle was said to take place: it was said 33 that from the grave flowed some sort of sand or dust, known as manna, to which the pilgrims attributed healing powers. 34 The cave of the Seven Sleepers may be considered equally legendary. Willibaldus and Ma9oudi both mention the place, and Idrisi's description of a cave he visited in 1117 probably also refers to the cave of the legendary Seven Sleepers. 35 The location of the monuments, ruins and contemporary buildings in Ephesus must have made a very confusing impression on many travellers, for the precise reason that the geographical situation in Ephesus changed somewhat over the centuries. From being a great harbour in antiquity, in the middle ages it had become an inland city. The continuous silting process may be considered the main reason for this. This process was a rapid one: in about 727 Willibaldus estimates the distance from the sea as one mile, while six hundred years later it was already said to be four miles.

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In the middle ages the ancient city of Ephesus was deserted. Odo of Deuil observes that the ruins still testify to its former glory, and Idrisi also speaks of ruins which, in his day, stretched out over the hillsides. Because they feared Christian counter attacks 36 the Turks moved their habitations to the hill with the Byzantine fort and the basilica of St. John, which had until then been outside the inhabited area. This change is described in the accurate geographical treatise about Ephesus by Ludolf von Sudheim; the move must have taken place shortly before he made his journey. 3 7 The greatest point of interest in Ephesus was the basilica of St. John. Both the great size of the church and its situation, high on a hill, made the basilica, which was built under Justinian I, a dominating building. But the descriptions of the basilica are relatively late, and the earliest only date from the time when Ephesus was already in Turkish hands. 38 Although the Turks had destroyed most of the churches in their territory the basilica in Ephesus was spared: the building was fitted up as a mosque. The grave of the saint was still accessible, as long as a 'denarius' was paid to the Turkish guards as an entrance fee. 39 A good description of the church is found in Boldensele: it was a cruciform basilica, richly decorated with marble and mosaics. The roof covering of lead seems also to have attracted special notice, since it is mentioned several times. Ibn Battuta emphasizes the considerable number of large and small domes on the church; altogether he counted eleven domes.~ 0 Ludolf's statement that the Turks held a market in the church, where they traded in corn and wool, seems to me to refer only to the great square in front of the church. It is remarkable that a second important church in Ephesus is mentioned only by a Moslem: Ibn Battuta speaks of a second building made of large blocks of stone, by which he probably means the basilica of St. Mary in the old city. This fourth-century church, built in an old Roman basilica,~ 1 in which a council was held in 431, was the cathedral church of the city. Much of the structure was changed by restoration and structural alterations, first in about 500 and again in the seventh to eight century.~ 2 The silence on the part of most of the sources suggests that for pilgrims the church had been superseded by the basilica of St. John. The passage by Ibn Battuta shows, however, that in the fourteenth century the building was still more or less intact.

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Medieval travellers did not bother about the origin of the city and its ancient history. Famous Artemis and her temple also seem to have been completely forgotten. Only Brocardus attributes the founding of the city to the Amazons, but this piece of information can hardly be considered as relevant.

5. Other cities Pergamon In medieval sources there is only one piece of information about Pergamon: Ibn Battuta noted ruins of the old town spread over the countryside, and a fort high on a hill above it. He heard the tradition that the house of a famous inhabitant of the city, whom he calls Plato, was still known at that time. Either he or his informant must have been mistaken, however, and have confused Galenus, the doctor from Pergamon, with the Athenian philosopher, Plato.

Tyra (Thyatira) Muntaner writes that two miles from the town of Tyra there was an exceptionally fine church to be seen. This church, dedicated to St. George, apparently particularly impressed him on account of its architecture and the costly decoration of its interior. It was, he says, one of the most beautiful churches he had ever seen; 43 and yet this building is not mentioned by any other author.

Myra and Patara Myra and Patara in Lycia are mentioned in several descriptions in connection with St. Nicholas. 44 This well-known saint was said to have been born at Patara, and for a number of years in the fourth century he was Archbishop of Myra. I believe that two reasons lie behind the repeated mention of Myra and Patara. Nicholas was already widely venerated in the Greek-Orthodox church in the early middle ages, but after the translatio of the relics to Bari in 1087 the saint soon became popular in the Roman Catholic west as well. 45 Also, it must not be forgotten that Nicholas was the patron saint of seafarers. It is thus only to be expected that the crew of ships in the vicinity of the Lycian coast should want to draw attention to the birthplace of 'their saint', and the place where he worked. It cannot always be deduced from their reports that the

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various authors did in fact visit these places. Saewulf says that he visited the grave of St. Nicholas;~ 6 Boldensele probably also did so, but Boldensele's text appears to have been quite simply copied by Ludolf and Mandeville. Schiltberger confuses Myra and Izmira, which also makes one doubt whether he had actually been there. But the mention of the saint does indicate that this information was considered to be important to the readers, which is hardly surprising in view of Nicholas's popularity.

EPILOGUE The fact that so few accounts have survived, by medieval travellers to Constantinople and Greek territory, about the ruins and antiquities, is not simply an unconnected phenomenon, There is no suggestion that this scarcity of material has to do with the objects being on Greek soil, for the very numerous objects and buildings in Italy which recalled antiquity are hardly ever mentioned either by travellers in that area. Medieval accounts about Rome are extremely rare, and about other places in Italy where ancient remains were to be seen there is practically no information available at all. Equally, there is no reason to assume that it was precisely travellers and chance visitors who, for some reason or other, did not react to being confronted with relics of antiquity. The autochthonous inhabitants both of Italy and of the Greek area were usually equally uncommunicative about the monuments and objects they lived in the midst of. In this epilogue I want to place the evidence of the travellers in Greek territory in a wider context by first giving some thought to the attitude towards ancient monuments in Italy in the middle ages. Closely connected with this is the question to what extent the rise of the Renaissance and Humanism in the fourteenth century influenced the development of classical archaeology, It will be necessary to make some observations about the relationships between the activities of humanist scholars and the study of classical monuments on Greek soil. The influence of the Renaissance on the culture of Italy, and later the whole of Europe, is an extremely complex subject, and one which has been dealt with in innumerable studies, from many different angles. I wish here only to touch upon a few aspects which have to do with journeys to Greece and attitudes to ancient monuments. After that I shall discuss the way in which Greeks, Turks, and the Latin section of the population on Greek soil regarded the remains of ancient culture that they saw around them,

1. The antique monuments in Italy and the influence of the Renaissance on archaeological activities Robert Weiss, in the first chapter of his The Renaissance Discovery of Classical Antiquity, 1 has outlined how people in the middle ages regarded antiquity. In his work testimonies about Italy, and especially Rome, occupy the most

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important place, but the conclusions he draws from this material tally with what has emerged from this study about the situation in Greece. In spite of the state of deep decay into which it had fallen, Italy, and especially Rome, nevertheless enjoyed great prestige in western Europe. The famous hymn, '0 Roma nobilis, orbis et domina, cunctarum urbium excellentissima' was apparently raised by countless pilgrims as they set eyes upon the eternal city. 2 Among the great numbers of visitors only few can be found who took the step from merely seeing so telling what they had seen. The accounts by Archbishop Hildebert of Tours (1056-1134), and the Englishman known as Magister Gregorius (12th - 13th century) are documents which are just as unique as the writings of, for example, Hariln-ibn-Yahya, Niccolo da Hartoni or Cristoforo Buondelmonti. Hildebert de Lavardin 3 visited Rome in the early years of the twelfth century, and in two Latin elegiac poems he put into words the impression the antiquities of that city had made on him. What is quite unusual - and for a clergyman even highly peculiar - is his preference for pagan statues of gods and goddesses. 4 In his work the idea of 'vanitas' is clearly to the fore, a feeling that was undoubtedly evoked by the desolate appearance of large parts of the city. Hildebert visited Rome shortly after it had been plundered by the Normans, 5 but even without the devastation that was carried out at that time the city, with its innumerable monuments, was already in a grave state of decay. An anonymous poem from before 1000 expresses this eloquently. 6 . The process of decay had already begun soon after 800, for there are indications that in the time of Charlemagne the majority of antique monuments was still reasonably intact. 7 Yet in spite of this devastation, Hildebert did have an eye for both the historical and the artistic importance of the ancient remains. His poems opens with the impressive lines: Par tibi Roma nihil, cum sis prope tota ruina; Quam magna fueris integra fracta doces. 8 Hildebert's poem enjoyed great popularity in the middle ages, and so undoubtedly contributed to the view of Rome that was widely held. Magister Gregorius's Narracio de Mirabilibus Urbis 9 Romae, has several things in common with the many mirabilia tales about the antiquities of Rome which were collected in

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the course of the twelfth century in a sort of guide for pilgrims and other visitors. 10 Legend and historical fact are intermingled, and the historical value of the work is fairly small; its influence, however, was very great, for until well into the fourteenth century the mirabilia stories continued to be the most read accounts of the topography and the antiquities of Rome. 11 The work of Magister Gregorius belongs in the same category, but diverges from other Mirabilia Urbis Romae at several points: it is not entirely anonymous, and the author also appears to be not entirely devoid of critical faculties. 12 Magister Gregorius describes a number of monuments, and he, too, shows a definite interest in free-standing pieces of sculpture; in a number of chapters he deals with different statues which he had seen in the city. 13 In his work we find, for example, the earliest reference to the Spinario, the celebrated Thorn Boy in the Capitol museum. 14 Gregorius' list of statues is all the more remarkable when one considers that the number of statues and sculpted groups in Rome - as well as elsewhere - was very small in the period previous to 1450, The best-known pieces only came to light in excavations after that date. 15 An illustration of Gregorius' interest in ancient statues is found in the twelfth chapter of his work, in which he says that he has seen a statue of the goddess Venus so perfectly carved from Parian marble that it appeared to him to be real Led by an indefinable urge, he says, he went back three times to have another look at this statue, even though it was two stadia away from where he was staying. 16 This same preference for statues can be seen in a number of travellers on Greek soil; in the work of HarOn-ibn-Yahya, al-Harawi, Robert de Clari and the anonymous Russian writer, in Buondelmonti's Liber Insularum Archipelagi and in Pero Tafur's description of his travels there is something - sometimes a good deal about statues of marble and bronze seen on the journey. There is an obvious resemblance between the Mirabilia Urbis Romae and the writing of Magister Gregorius on the one hand, and on the other hand the Patria Constantinopoleos and the stories told in Athens and other places in connection with ancient relics. Robert de Clari's description of Constantinople also fits in entirely, both in style and content, with this group of literary works, The absence of any proper sequence or any order based on geographical situation, the exaggeration of the measurements of certain monuments or objects, and the particular attention given to

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anything of an extraordinary nature, - these, along with all sorts of magic and enchantment, are to be found in all these works. Clari's description of the Hippodrome can be directly compared with the passage about the Circus Maximus in the Mirabilia. 17 His interest in the life-like statues in the spina of the Hippodrome can be compared to the special interest of such people as Hildebert and Magister Gregorius. Not 18 only in Athens was there an everlastingly burning lamp; in Rome, too, it was claimed that there was a lamp made of as19 bestos that could never be extinguished, Both in Italy and in Greece all sorts of sagas were connected with the ruins of temples and other buildings, with 20 graves and statues, sarcophagi and obelisks. Temples were believed to be the palaces of kings of earlier times, or the houses of famous people; gates and triumphal arches were thought to be entrances to palaces; other buildings or ruins were called 'schola' and were associated with famous people from ancient history. 21 Columns were often believed to be possessed of spirits and in a number of cases fear of the demon or saint in question led to such objects being preserved. Pieces of sculpture, too, were regarded as talismans, imbued with miraculous powers; sometimes they were believed 22 to be living creatures that had been turned into stone. Ideas of this sort were rife in the middle ages among both western Europeans and Greeks; they are expressed not only in the writings about the antiquities of Rome, but also in the descriptions of ancient monuments in the Greek world. Both in the tales recorded by the Greeks themselves, and in the writings of foreigners who heard of Greek traditions and recorded them, the medieval view of the relics of previous phases of culture can be seen. The revival of interest in antiquity during the Renaissance did not immediately have any demonstrable results with regard to the ancient ruins. After all, the emphasis of Humanism was very strongly on literary activities: manuscripts, and to an important extent inscriptions as well, were diligently studied, but there was little or no interest in the other tangible remains of ancient civilization. 22 a The picture of Antiquity that people tried to build up in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, under the influence of the Renaissance, ·was almost entirely determined by literature, and not by the surviving monuments and objects. Dante made regular use of characters from antiquity in his works, from which we may conclude that they were also more or less familiar to his readers, but antique

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remains are not mentioned there. 23 From Boccaccio's work (1313-1375) it can be deduced that he certainly had some interest in archaeological material and in topographical data. 24 He sometimes tried to connect places and monuments that he came across in classical texts with what he had seen. Sometimes he succeeds in this, and so it is that an account of his travels in the vicinity of Naples (Baiae, the cave of the Sibylle of Cumae) and in Northern Italy (Fiesole, Padua) can sometimes be recognized in his works. 25 His knowledge of Rome, however, appears to be extremely scanty; he certainly cannot have spent long in that city, and the impression made on him by the ancient monuments can only be guessed at. 26 Petrarch, the first person to be aware that antiquity was a period of time already long closed, and that the structure of his own time was in some ways entirely different, 27 was particularly impressed by the ruins in Rome. 28 He had an eye for the beauty of classical works of art; his appreciation of the four horses of San Marco in Venice, for example, is well known. 29 He certainly did not neglect ancient inscriptions, and he also had a very great and profound interest in ancient coins. 30 Yet he, too, was most active in the field of textual criticism of Latin writers. In his attitude to ancient monuments Petrarch is certainly important, because his enthusiasm for the relics of ancient Rome was not aroused by an interest in their magic powers of by utilitarian considerations, but by the fact that the remains were oZd and Roman. 31 This approach to antiquity, which by comparison with the medieval view is an entirely new one, only penetrated extremely slowly however; the idea continued to exist only among a small circle of scholars. Petrarch's view of antique remains is limited to the strictly historical: he wandered among the ruins of Rome, and in his mind he associated the texts of Vergil and Livy, in particular, about the great events in the history of Rome, with the tangible remains of that past. What particularly struck Petrarch was the fact that the inhabitants of the city apparently neither knew nor cared in the least about these antiquities. His idea that Rome would rise again from the ruins 'if only it would begin to know itself' found no favour with the Romans. 32 This idea of renewal was also limited to a small circle of scholars and those inspired by Humanism. The ordinary people of Rome lived in pitiful circumstances, and precisely the seventy

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years of the 'Babylonian Exile' of the Popes at Avignon (1309 - 1377) are known as one of the lowest points in the history of the city. An epigram originating in the first half of the fifteenth century, in a work by Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini 33 makes it clear that among the Roman population as a whole there was still little evidence of any interest in the remains of the past. Pero Tafur's remark about the attitude of the Romans to their own antiquities also provides a good illustration: his questions met with profound silence: These Romans were no different, in this respect, from the inhabitants whom Pero Tafur found in the midst of the ruins of the place in Asia Minor in which he believed he recognized Troy. Although the Renaissance and Humanism were chiefly literary in character, it was unavoidable that as a result of the growing interest in classical antiquity the tangible remains of that period should gradually attract more interest. This process of re-discovery began in the first half of the fifteenth century, but just as in the literary field the emphasis fell on works by Latin authors, so the first activities in the archaeological field also took place in Italy. 34 Yet in several of the accounts discussed in this book some evidence of the Renaissance can also be demonstrated. I have already referred to the relationship between the person of Niccolo da Martoni, notary from Carinola near Capua and author of the earliest description of the antiquities in Athens, and the humanist activities which developed in the twelfth to fourteenth centuries in the vicinity of Naples, precisely among lawyers and notaries. 35 The statement of King Pedro el Ceremonioso of Aragon, too, about the Acropolis of Athens, cannot be separated from the humanism that was growing up in Spain towards the end of the fourteenth century. The most clear influence of all can be seen in the case of the Florentine geographer Cristoforo Buondelmonti, who some ten years after the teaching of Manuel Chrysoloras in Florence and the completion of his translation of Ptolemy's Geographica set off to wander about the Greek archipelago with a copy of that same book in his pocket. The purpose of his journeys was not to study antiquities, but to carry out topographical and geographical research. In thjs he differs from Cyriacus of Ancona, who travelled around in Greek territory twenty years after him. For the latter the ancient remains were of primary importance, and for him there was no distinction between antiquities in Italy and those in Greece, In both places Cyria-

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cus searched passionately for manuscripts; he drew buildings and the remains of buildings, statues and fragments of sculpture, coins and gems: he copied down innumerable inscriptions and attempted to assemble as many relics of antiquity as possible. In him renewed interest in antiquity goes far beyond the literary framework; he searched for antiquity, and found it, not primarily in literary texts, but in its actual concrete remains. 36 The political situation, which underwent a radical change in the middle of the fifteenth century as a result of the conquest of Constantinople, was one of the reasons why Cyriacus' example was so little followed. As has already been indicated in the chapter about students and scholars, the first half ot the fifteenth century was precisely the time that a hesitant start was made by western Europeans at studying in the Palaeologian Empire. The Florentine Jacopo Angeli da Scarperia had set an example, with his journey to Constantinople in 1396. This activity came to an abrupt end, however, in 1453. In the early years of the present century a romantic picture was built up by some scholars of the humanist interests of Sultan Muhammed II. 37 In this context, Cyriacus was supposed to have played an important role as scribe at the court of the sultan; he was supposed to have read to Muhammed from the work of Thucydides. The facts are rather different: Cyriacus does not appear ever to have stayed at the court of MUhammed in Constantinople, which is far more in keeping with the fact that he is known to have strongly endeavoured to raise a Crusade to put a stop to the Turkish advance. 38 There were, it is true, a small number of Levantines and Italians at the sultan's court after the capture of Constantinople, but their influence was very small. Moreover, the question arises as to whether their presence was not dictated by political expediency rather than by humanist interest. After all, Mohammed is known to have toyed with the idea, after conquering the Palaeologian Empire, of embarking upon an invasion of Italy. 39 From the second half of the fifteenth century only two anonymous writings about the Greek antiquities have survived; both date from the early years of Turkish domination. The first, entitled -ra 58a-rpa xa'l. 6L6aoxaA.Eta is better known as the Viennese anonymous, and dates from about 1458. 40 The author of this short fragment does his best to identify as many as possible of the ancient remains in Athens as

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palaces, scholae or theatres. The problem about this document is to make out how much the author has borrowed from a study of literature, how much from local tradition and how much from his own imagination. 41 The second document was written by a Venetian, who wandered through central Greece in about 1470, and also paid a visit to Constantinople. 42 Just like Cyriacus, he showed a great interest in all sorts of ancient remains, and his attempts to connect these with various people and facts from antiquity clearly betray the influence of classical literature. With the journey of this Venetian in 1470, wanderings in Greece came to an end for about a century. Turkish dominance in the area was undoubtedly a factor in putting an end to travel over land. Travel by sea still continued, for it should not be forgotten that many of the places and islands that were important from the point of view of travel - Koran and Modon, Cythera, Crete, Rhodes and Chios, and various other forts and islands still continued for a long time in Christian hands. Pilgrimages to Jerusalem and the Holy Land also continued; the Venetian pilgrim service only came to an end in about 1570, when Cyprus also fell into Turkish hands; the most important reason for stopping the annual excursions was,however, that interest in pilgrimages had greatly diminished so that the organization barely paid off. Hindrance from the Turks was a matter of secondary importance. The sea voyage, however, offered little opportunity for becoming acquainted with the country or its people. In spite of the fact that possibilities for travel did continue to exist, there is practically no data about the antiquities in Constantinople and Greece from the first century of Turkish rule. I believe Robert Weiss to be right when he gives as the reason for this an 'apathy among scholars rather than impossibility of access to the remains of ancient Greece', and he explains such apathy as being 'not altogether surprising, when we recall that despite its Greek veneer, the Humanism of the Renaissance was essentially Latin' . 43

2. The attitude of the Greeks with regard to their antiquities It is striking how little interest was shown by the inhabitants of the Byzantine Empire including the Palaeologian Empire (1261-1453), in the relics of classical antiquity that were still to be found in the region where they lived. The number of Greek literary texts from the period circa 500-

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1450 in which monuments and objects from the Greek and Roman time are mentioned is extremely small, and descriptions of monuments which were erected under the Byzantine emperors have also only seldom come down to posterity. The work of Paulus Silentiarius about the Hagia Sophia, that of Pachymeres about the statue of Justinian I, Constantinus Rhodius's about the Church of the Apostles, and the passages in Nicetas Choniates about the many antique statues in the Hippodrome of Constantinople - these are the most detailed and the best known; 44 apart from these an occasional important passage can be found in Byzantine authors, such as the ecphrasis of Constantinus Manasses (circa 1150) about a relief depicting the story of Odysseus and Polyphemus. 45 Generalizing somewhat, one could say with C.P. Bracken: 'Over all these centuries earthquake and flood, wind and rain threw down, buried or eroded the Greek temples and sculptures; men utilised the debris to build themselves houses, burnt the marbles to make lime for mortar, and melted the bronze to make cooking utenstls. The rare visitors recorded something of what was left. • 46 I believe that several different factors lie at the root of this alienation of the Greeks from their own early cultural phases. Firstly it must be remembered that in the Byzantine Empire people thought of themselves as primarily Romans. 47 The title used by Liudprand, imperator graecorum, was regarded as a great insult. People did have some vague notion of ancient history, of a time when Greece had flourished greatly; but a clear picture of that long-lost time was lacking, not only among the great mass of people, but even among Byzantine historians. What still remained were the names of a number of famous personalities, such as Minas, Aristotle, Hippocrates and Alexander the Great. A second important factor was that the capital founded by Constantine was situated on the outskirts of what was, in the period of classical antiquity, the most important part of Greece. In the Byzantine period interest was directed mainly at what was going on in the capital and its immediate surroundings, with the result that the provinces of Hellas and Peloponnesus receded into the background, After all, in the early years of the Byzantine period the centre of the empire lay mainly in the area of the Bosporus-Dardanelles and in Asia Minor. 48 Byzantine chroniclers devote extraordinarily little attention to the western provinces, with the result that there is hardly any data available about the social,

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49

economic, intellectual and artistic life of those regions. The founding of the new capital and its somewhat excentric geographical position in relation to ancient Greece demonstrably influenced the way in which monuments from the past were regarded in Byzantine society. The Greek mainland, the Peloponnesus and the islands, where numerous traces of the ancient cultures were still to be found, were outposts which were hardly ever visited; such ancient relics as still remained faded into oblivion. The same fate befell the places along the west and south coast of Asia Minor. Yet the founding of Constantinople did also have a positive side. We know that for its embellishment Constantine and his successors had statues and sculptures of bronze and marble brought there from all over the empire. A number of these objects survived in their new surroundings for many centuries. In contrast to this positive aspect, however, is the fact that these pieces were removed from their original places, and that their real significance was thus lost, for the Byzantines. The snake column of Plataeae, for example, was significant in Delphi as a libation; in Constantinople it became merely a remarkable object, its origin and meaning forgotten. Earthquakes and fires put an end to many buildings and monuments, both in Constantinople and elsewhere. The violence of war, however, left the capital almost unscathed; the city was captured only twice in over a thousand years, whereas both Greece and Asia Minor were exposed with great regularity to wars and invasions. Much was lost as a result, not only in the way of buildings and objects, but also the traditions connected with these ancient remains. For the Slav invaders the Avars and Bulgarians, accustomed to a nomadic existence, the remains of classical antiquity meant nothing; only in the course of a very gradual process of Hellenization did they become familiar with them. The Moslems will be considered separately. Another important factor in this alienation can be found in the changed attitude to art, as seen in the art of the Byzantine empire. 50 Byzantine art differs from classical art in many respects. I will mention just a few of the striking differences. In architecture, the form of building based on the longitudinal axis of the classical Greek temple with colonnade, and also the Roman basilica with central apse and three naves was no longer current. The preference was now for centrally-planned buildings, in which the dome formed an integral part. 51 The Hagia Sophia combines both these build-

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ing forms, the longitudinal axis and a central plan. The changes in the field of the plastic arts were more radical: free-standing sculptures were not produced any more after the sixth century A.D. but only decorated capitals, sarcofagi, marble plates, etc. The creativity of the Byzantine artists was expressed chiefly in mosaic work, frescos and panel painting; in enamel work, too, and the richly decorated bronze doors and panels the Byzantine artists displayed great skill. As the approach of the Byzantine population to ancient architectural remains was not the same as their attitude to sculpture, these two categories will be examined separately. Architecture The main reason why ancient buildings were preserved was a functional one; aesthetic qualities played no part in this. By this I do not wish to assert that the Byzantine population was entirely devoid of admiration for ancient buildings; but from the sources that have survived there is nothing to say whether people considered a particular building beautiful or ugly. There were two areas in which the constructions of antiquity could still be put to very good use: in the field of military strategy and in the religious field. Antique fortifications and lines of defence were adapted to the requirements of the time. Here one thinks of the fortifications on the Acropolis in Athens, the Acrocorinth at Corinth, the Cadmeia of Thebes and the wall across the Isthmus. The old watchtower at Kyparissia on the coast of Arcadia also belongs to this group. Ancient temple buildings were sometimes adapted and used as churches. The best-known examples of this Christianizing are the Parthenon and the Theseion in Athens, but this change of cultual function took place in many towns in the Greek area. The Parthenon appears to have enjoyed great fame even in the Byzantine period. As has already been said, although in the middle ages Athens was in a state of serious political and economic decay, the city continued to be important from a religious point of view. 52 I believe that the fact that it was precisely in the cathedral of Athens that Emperor Basil II celebrated his victory over the Bulgarians in 1019, can be seen as an indirect proof of his admiration for this classical temple turned into a Christian church. He travelled from Ochrid past Thessalonica and the provincial capital Thebes,

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to get to Athens. Apparently it was only there that the victory could be provisionally celebrated in a suitable manner; the proper celebration was to follow later in the churches and palaces of Constantinople. About the fate of smaller ancient buildings little or nothing is known. Private houses did not usually survive the centuries, as they were mostly built of wood or other not very durable materials. Only the larger, usually public buildings of stone or marble were so strongly built that they continued in use for centuries, with or without renovation. Evidence in travel accounts shows that in the middle ages ancient buildings were indeed sometimes used as houses, stables or storage rooms. 53 Such buildings as did not acquire a new function - and because of the great fall in population there were many of these - were irretrievably lost. Many towns fell into total ruin: Olympia and Delphi disappeared from the scene; Odo of Deuil refers to the field of ruins at Nicea, Manuel Palaeologus writes to Demetrius Cydones about the many uninhabited and completely ruined cities of Asia Minor, 54 and in Buondelmonti's description of Crete there are regular references to heaps of rubble as all that remains of former settlements. The custom of using old building materials, that were almost universally available, for new constructions, sometimes resulted in acts of destruction. Both Greeks and western Europeans were guilty of this. 55 Sometimes there was a real emergency, such as in 1390 when in Constantinople at the command of emperor John V Palaeologus three famous old churches were demolished to be used for the fortification of the walls. Even the Mocius church, built by Constantine, was demolished at that time; 56 and in retrospect to no avail, for after an ultimatum by sultan Bajazet I the hastily constructed fortifications were pulled down again. 57 In the case of the wall across the Isthmus, too, a great deal of ancient material from Corinth and its surroundings was used in the hasty repairs carried out at the beginning of the fifteenth century. Mostly, however, the mere fact that the remains of ancient buildings were of good quality,cost little and were plentifully available was sufficient reason for choosing precisely these materials. In spite of all these negative factors some awareness of antiquity did continue to exist. In the traveller's tales we hear of a house of Hippocrates, a schola of Homer, a well from which the Athenian philosophers drank, a grave of Zeus

THE GREEKS WITH REGARD TO THEIR ANTIQUITIES

315

or of Caiaphas. We hear that in Crete people still indicated a place where the Labyrinth was supposed to have been situated; there is a temple where Paris was said to have met Helen, a tomb where Polydorus was buried. One can only be amazed at the vitality of such traditions, which lived on for centuries under the most unfavourable conditions. They are traditions in which the old architectural remains occupy a central position, and from which it is apparent that the memory of the distant but glorious past never entirely disappeared. Sculpture Some years ago Cyril Mango went into the question of how the Greek population of Constantinople reacted to the ancient statues in that city. 58 He states that the many hundreds of statues imported in the course of the fourth and fifth centuries and in the first half of the sixth century 59 were soon lost, not wilfully, but as the result of natural disasters. Earthquakes and fires reduced the number of marble and bronze statues to about a hundred in the Middle Byzantine period. 60 The majority of these were lost in fires and looting by the Crusaders in 1204. Mango points out that the influence of these ancient works of art on literature was extremely small. From the period between Justinian I and about 1150 apart from the writing of Constantinus Rhodius no descriptions of ancient works of art appeared. 61 Nor does it appear from any of the accounts that Greek and Roman antiquities were still being collected in the Byzantine empire after the fifth century. There is no question of any clear influence of classical statues on Byzantine art; one may point to the fact that in Byzantium no free-standing sculpture was produced, but more important is that there was even a total lack of interest in this art form, so successfully practised by the ancient Greeks. The statues spread all over the city did, however, acquire legendary significance in the popular imagination; they became the subject of all sorts of popular stories. To a number of statues was attributed the function of a talisman, that guaranteed the safety of the city. 62 The statues were believed to be possessed of spirits, sometimes good, but usually evil ones, even though the theologians taught that they were lifeless. 63 A number of these stories survive in the ~Oas~s oUVLO~~ XPOV~~L (short historical explanation), a sort of tourists' handbook about the sights of Constantinople, dating partly from the middle of the eighth

316

EPILOGUE

century. 64 A new version of these Patria Constantinopoleos appeared towards the end of the tenth century, and survives under the name of pseudo- Codinus; 65 some stories are also known from the twelfth century. 66 The second source for these stories is the description by medieval travellers, who occasionally noted down a tale. The ancient miracle worker, Apollonius of Tyana, plays an important part in many of these stories. Especially in descriptions by Arabs his name regularly appears, but other writers also appear to be not unacquainted with him. 67 Diehl has pointed particularly to the fact that the population of Constantinople, by contrast to that of Rome, where people believed in a 'Roma aeterna', was conscious of the finiteness of the city. Although they possessed the Palladium, the power of repelling the enemy which emanated from the statue of Justinian, and the divine protection of St. Michael, who was believed to protect the walls of the city on horseback, yet they believed that the mysterious inscriptions on statues and the bas-reliefs on the great columns of Arcadius and Theodosius both foretold and illustrated the end of the city. This was the interpretation given by oracle readers; the masses believed firmly in these stories, but among educated people, too, and even at the imperial court there appears to have been little doubt as to their truth. 68 Some of these stories are known to us from western sources: the chroniclers of the fourth crusade, Villehardouin and Clari, describe in their work how in the search of justification the reliefs on the columns of Arcadius and Theodosius played an important part. Even though it should be borne in mind that this providential aspect is particularly emphasized by the French historians, the essence of their stories was nevertheless formed by what the Greeks themselves thought about these monuments. Pero Tafur, too, recorded a number of such stories about statues that were in circulation: he refers to 'el Justo' and to the statue of a goddess near the Zeuxippus thermae. In his case, however, there is already some evidence of a critical, commonsense approach; his belief in what he was told is no longer very great. It seems to me that there is some difference between the traditions associated with old architectural remains and the stories that are connected with sculptured groups and statues. I believe that the reason for this is that statues, unlike

THE GREEKS WITH REGARD TO THEIR ANTIQUITIES

317

houses and land, could be moved, and in many cases actually were. As has already been indicated, the fact that so many statues were moved to Constantinople did guarantee these objects a longer existence, but on the other hand it caused them to be detached from their original surroundings. In their new surroundings the popular imagination invested them with a new meaning, on the basis of criteria usually impossible for us to trace, based upon superstition and a belief in magic powers; as a result their historical and aesthetic qualities disappeared. The majority of these stories clearly originated in the Early and Middle Byzantine period. Such few statues as there were outside Constantinople undoubtedly also had stories connected with them. Nothing can be said about these, however, since neither in Byzantine nor in western sources can any information be found about them. In a number of cases the traditions connected with buildings and with land appear to be considerably older, or at least to have a very old kernel. Some undoubtedly go back to late antiquity, or indeed even further. Especially in remote, little-visited regions, such as the islands of Cythera, Crete, Cos and Chios, but also in cities which were continuously inhabited, such as Athens, Corinth, Patra~ and to some extent the much younger Constantinople, traditions connected with particular buildings or architectural remains were handed down from generation to generation. People were aware that these monuments were extremely old, and at an early stage people already began to connect them with famous names from the past. The inhabitants had very little factual information either about people from the past, who were to them only names, or about the age and the unusual nature of the monuments. The letter by Michael Choniates is very revealing, in which he describes how his speech about the glory and greatness of ancient Athens called forth no response whatever from his Athenian audience. 69 No doubt legendary elements have crept into the surviving traditions, and have perhaps even come to occupy the most important place in them; but the important thing is that the old kernel has not been lost. Not until the thirteenth century can one trace in a few people in Byzantine society the beginnings of an interest in their own past. The presence of western knights in the Greek capital during the Latin empire activated Greek self-awareness, and particularly at the court of the Lascarides in Nicea, where a number of scholars gathered, people began 70 to be aware of the importance of the classical Greek period.

318

EPILOGUE

In these court circles an encomium (hymn of praise) came into being, in which the importance of Nicea was weighed against that of Athens. The reference, however, was not to the decayed provincial town of their own day, with its Burgundian overlords, but to the famous 'EAAOBo~ nULOEU~~ of Thucydides. 71 In the fourteenth century the threat of the advancing Turks stimulated this re-discovery of the Greeks' own early history. Politically enfeebled, and from a military point of view barely a match for the Turks, people looked for solace to the glorious past. Interest in pagan classical culture increased; the pagan elements were christianized, of course, and the ancient philosophers transformed into saints. 72 It must be remembered, however, that this development was limited to a very small circle of intellectuals, and that it was primarily literary in character. 73 All this had very little significance with regard to the antique monuments. Some of the letters of Maximus Planudes, in which he mentions, amongst other things, the Temple of Hadrianus in Cyzicus or the ancient citadel of Priene, 74 are interesting but still offer little in the way of information. The interest of Emperor Manuel Palaeologus (1391-1425) in archaeological objects was also undoubtedly real. He was genuinely grieved that so many places in Asia Minor lay in ruins, and that people could no longer even find out the names of them. But Planudes and Manuel were exceptions; the great mass of people were quite unaware of such feelings, and would only have been astonished at them. This is apparent, for example, in the work of Buondelmonti, whose wanderings in Crete were not understood by the local population, and were regarded with amazement. There is no evidence that visitors were deliberately hindered or were denied access to monuments, as was later frequently the case under Turkish rule. On the other hand neither is any form of co-operation between visitors and the local population in finding, studying and perhaps measuring or drawing the antique monuments to be found in the medieval sources. To sum up, I would like to suggest that in a number of cases the local Greek population did possess a vague knowledge of or at least some familiarity with the antique remains. With the exception of a few individuals in the thirteenth and fourteenth century, however, there is no question of any clear interest in these objects as documents of one's own history. The attitude of the Greeks to their monuments

THE ATTITUDE OF THE TURKS TO THE CLASSICAL MONUMENTS

319

was partly one of conservation; 75 they kept up a number of traditions which stemmed from antiquity, and passed them on in their own orbit. As well as this, in the Early and Middle Byzantine period antique objects - especially statues - gave rise to the creation of new stories. Written references to antiquities and traditions are practically non-existent, however, among the Greeks.

3,

The attitude of the Turks to the classical monuments

From the thirteenth century onward the power of Islam spread westward into Asia Minor, and more and more originally Greek territories fell into Turkish hands. In 1354 the Turks finally obtained a firm footing on European soil, and in the centuries that followed they succeeded in gaining control of the remains of the Byzantine empire and the Latin territorie•. The capital, Constantinople, fell to them in 1453, and in the fourteen-fifties the last Greek and Latin points of support on the Peloponnesus also came into Moslem possession. Only Crete, Rhodes, a couple of islands in the Archipelago and a few isolated Venetian forts still remained in Christian hands. The Turkish attitude to the ancient monuments in Greek territory shows some resemblance to the attitude of the Greeks, which has just been described. Yet some fundamental differences in approach can be seen. One important factor is not so much the difference in religion as in religious experience. It should also be remembered that although in the Islamic culture representations of people and animals are not explicitly forbidden, almost everywhere calligraphy was preferred as a form of decoration. 76 Most Greek churches were not suitable for use as mosques; even by means of structural alterations they could not usually be adapted to Islamic requirements. Innumerable churches were thus demolished, or left unused, in which case they soon fell into disrepair. The confiscation of church property soon resulted in there being no money for the necessary maintenance work. This was one of the reasons that led to the disappearance of many church buildings. The use of spolia is not unheard of among the Turks, either. Only a few churches escaped because of their great size or fame. Ludolf von Sudheim says how the great basilica of St. John at Ephesus was spared, whereas the majority of churches in the area were demolished. Yet I believe that here, too, it was not aesthetic admiration for this magnificent edifice that was responsible for this, but

320

EPILOGUE

rather the fact that such a large and well preserved building was considered usable. The fact that the apostle and evangelist St. John was buried there may have been regarded by the Moslems as an advantage. 77 A century later the Parthenon and the Hagia Sophia were also spared; these great churches were transformed into mosques. In the case of non-religious buildings they applied the same criteria as the Greeks: public buildings and defence works, in sofar as they were functional, remained in use; what was not needed was left to fall irrevocably into rack and ruin, and later, as a result, to be plundered. The Turkish agas in Thessalonica in the fifteenth and sixteenth century are known to have inhabited the old palace of the Tetrarchs; in Athens, too, they installed themselves in the Propylaea palace and on the Acropolis. Nowhere is there any sign of interest on the ·part of the Turks for remains stemming from an entirely different cultural pattern. Complaints of being actively hindered by the Turks, or of only people who were on good terms with the sultan being able to get anywhere, are not yet found, however, in the authors of the fifteenth and sixteenth century. They often show great admiration for the Turks - greater than for the Greeks, whom they consider inferior by comparison. 78 They appear to have travelled about undisturbed, and it was no concern of the sultan's if they were interested in antiquities and in ruins. Permission to travel was granted them; help and co-operation, however, they could not expect. The Turkish attitude to statues and sculpture also resembles that of the Greeks towards these objects. The Turks also believed that the statues were possessed by demons, and endued with magic powers. Their reaction to them was determined not only by fear but by disgust. Disgust was felt for the statues of people and animals, fear for the demons that could punish them if they damaged or destroyed these statues. This was why the statue of Justinian was removed from its high column immediately after the capture of the city in 1453; this anti-Turkish talisman had to go, but the statue of the man on horseback was not destroyed until the following century. 79 The same is true of the snake monument in the Hippodrome: the heads were broken off, to destroy its influence, but the monument itself was left standing, saved by the magic powers attributed to it. From all this one can only conclude that the process of decline of the ancient monuments, that was already well under

THE ATTITUDE OF THE LATINS TO THE CLASSICAL MONUMENTS

321

way in the centuries before 1453, was merely accelerated under the Turks. Destruction was not usually carried out deliberately, except in the religious field. Total strangeness with regard to the remains of the Greek, Roman and Byzantine culture, and an absence of interest in anything outside their own cultural pattern were responsible for the decline of innumerable monuments and objects. This process of decline and decay lasted many centuries, and in some regions it even continues unchecked at the present time. Among certain groups of the Greek population there is still very little enthusiasm for archaeological research and for the importance of their own ancient monuments. In many places on the west coast of Asia Minor the same mentality still continues to exist, even though the Greek and the Turkish governments, experts on antique remains and intellectuals are highly conscious of the importance of the antique remains in their country for their own history, and every effort is made to save and conserve as much as possible.

4. The attitude of the Latin population group to the monuments The reactions to the ancient monuments of the western elements of the population who had settled in Greek territory as a result of the fourth Crusade are even more difficult to define than those of the Greeks and Turks. Looking only at the data found in the literary sources from among their own circles, it would only be possible to conclude that the remains of earlier cultures with which they were confronted in their new home left them completely unmoved. Yet we should not be misled by this total absence of literary evidence, for I believe that as I have indicated in this study there is evidence of some involvement, on the part of certain individuals or groups in the western section of the population, with the ancient monuments of their new fatherland. This was, of course, a gradual process, and it was closely connected with the slow integration of Greeks and Latins. The Knights of the fourth crusade still had little knowledge of and interest in the history of the region in which they operated. Yet Robert de Clari already has in his mind the idea of retribution for the devastation of Tray. The little that educated people found about Greece and Greek history in Latin literature probably did fill them with some sort of pride. It was, I imagine, the same pride felt by the chancellor of the Staufen emperor, Henry VI, and governor of Naples and Sicily, when he travelled through the region under

322

EPILOGUE

his jurisdiction. In 1194 Konrad von Querfurth described his journey through Italy 80 in a letter to his friend, the Abbot of Hildesheim. In it he speaks of the Rubicon, the thermae of Vergil in Baiae, Scylla and Charybdis, and the theatre of Taormina, which he identifies as the Labyrinth. He believes Parnassus, Olympus and the spring of Hippocrene to be situated in southern Italy, and is very proud of the fact, because these famous places that he had learned about at school now belonged (or so he thought) to the territory of his emperor. The same feeling of pride can be traced in the Aragonian King Pedro IV in connection with the Acropolis of Athens. He is full of praise for this Acropolis, which had come by chance to form part of his dominions. 81 Even if he was not prepared to spend any money on the defence of this far outpost of his territory, its cultural value did not escape him. Travellers' stories provide the opportunity of tracing something of the attitude of the western section of the population to antique remains. After all, we regularly hear how travellers sought lodgings with fellow countrymen, fellowcitizens, or at least fellow-believers. The old traditions included in the travel descriptions - passed on orally by the Greeks from generation to generation - must have been transmitted via the western section of the population, since direct contact between travellers and Greeks can be practically ruled out. The transmission of local Greek tales was the first contribution of the Latin part of the population, but not their only one. I have already mentioned the Venieri on Cythera, who, on this island with its famous temple of Venus (of which a considerable part must still have been standing) made up a family tree which traced their descent back precisely to this goddess Venus. The involvement of the Knights of St. John in the distortion of the local legend about Hippocrates on Cos is also probable; as a result we now have the story of Hippocrates' daughter. The Venetian excursions to the quarry near Gortyn on the island of Crete indicate admiration and pride in the fact that the famous labyrinth lay within their reach. Nicolas Cornaro laid out an 'Antikengarten' in Crete, long before this became the custom in western Europe. The Archbishop of Patras had a painting on the walls of his palace showing the capture and sack of Troy, and the chancellor of Achaea, Leonardi da Veroli, included in his small library a Greek manuscript. It is a matter of individual personalities, not large groups of people; but the fact that

THE ATTITUDE OF THE LATINS TO THE CLASSICAL MONUMENTS

again and again the activities of such individuals traced seems to me to indicate that within a small there was a lively appreciation of and interest in The parallel with the travellers discussed in this evident!

323

can be circle Antiquity. study is

CONCLUSION Travel accounts occupy only a small place in medieval literature, and accounts of travels in Greece and Asia Minor form only a fraction of them. When one concentrates upon accounts which contain evidence about ancient monuments the number becomes even smaller. It has been said in several places that in the middle ages travel was not a tourist activity, and that it was accompanied by great risks and dangers. Most journeys were business trips, their destination sometimes inside, but more often outside Greek territory. In the first part of this study the different motives for which people went to Greek territory were examined at length. It also became clear why it was that there was particular interest in Constantinople and in various coastal towns and islands. It has been seen that the majority of travellers strove to reach their destination as quickly as possible; that in doing so they paid little attention to the scenery, the inhabitants, ancient traditions and monuments or ruins was unavoidable. The object of travel in the twentieth century, namely to make contact with unfamiliar races and different kinds of culture, can only be found in the middle ages in the works of a few Arab authors. The Spaniard Pero Tafur, in the first half of the fifteenth century, also seems to have had some similar sort of motive in undertaking his journeys, but he is an exception in that period. It is not until after 1600 that the nature of travel changes in Europe, and that travellers became more alive to its positive aspects. 1 Only then, too, is there an increase in the number of descriptions which contain personal observations about all kinds of subjects.2 In the preceding period there are only a few individuals whose account is any more than a dull list. For our information about travel in the middle ages we are almost entirely dependent upon written sources. Yet it should be remembered that the fact that people acquired certain experiences abroad did not at all necessarily mean that they also wrote these experiences down. In the middle ages this was certainly not particularly usual; we know that at that time communication between people was usually oral and that written publications were mainly limited to affairs of government. 3 On returning from their undertaking many travellers undoubtedly spoke about their experiences on their journeys within their own circle; this information, however, has been almost entirely

326

CONCLUSION

lost. Only in a few cases can traces of this oral tradition be found in written sources, as in the chronicles of Guibert of Nogent and Robert of Rheims, and in passages in Arab authors. All that is available to us is what a few individuals wrote down on paper. Their interest in events and objects outside their own sphere of life, their education, and above all their personal attitudes, which diverged from those of the masses, form the basis of such accounts. The influence of such travel accounts has often been very limited; it has been pointed out that many of these travel books have often survived in one manuscript. Probably the author himself did not aim at a wide circulation; he simply felt the need to write his experiences down. It was seldom his intention that his work should be used as a travel guide for others travelling to the same destination. Two elements are of the greatest importance for the western view of the antiquities in Greek territory. The Bible and ancient Latin authors were constantly used as a frame of reference, both by those who travelled and by those who settled down permanently on Greek soil. It was against this background that people placed what they saw and one may imagine that it also helped to decide what they wanted to see. The emphasis in the travel accounts is on all sorts of elements connected with saints and with places referred to in the Bible. Ancient Latin authors also influenced the thoughts of many of the travellers. The stories about Troy were widely known: Vergil was read at school. When one looks at the things from antiquity in which some interest is occasionally shown, they are often objects that are referred to in Latin literature. Perhaps this is why Bertrandon de la Broquiere mentions the tumulus of Polydorus in Thrace, which is familiar from Vergil, but not a single traveller mentions any of the other tumuli, such as those of the Spartans at Thermopylae. The influence of the Bible and of ancient authors on the way the travellers looked at things should not be underestimated, it seems to me: one may even wonder to what extent travellers' notes were inspired by the ancient texts, and whether their observations should thus be regarded as a confirmation of what they actually already knew. The importance of the travellers, however, is still that their descriptions were mostly based upon personal observation ; for this reason they have more value than the evidence based only upon literary sources. It is difficult to find an answer to the question of why so little attention is paid in the surviving descriptions

CONCLUSION

327

of Greek territory to the ancient ruins, monuments and traditions then still in existence. Heckscher 4 looked for an explanation in the pessimism which was found on such a large scale in the middle ages, and the emphasis which was laid at that time upon the theme of vanitas: 'The ancient sites, monuments and statues, fallen to pieces and deprived of their former decorations could only be regarded as specimens of "vanity" - signal examples of divine chastisement' . 5 In the medieval view of the world only what was whole and complete was good. In the static universe, in which everything had received a complete form according to the divine plan there was no room for ruins, for phases of destruction. Heckscher takes his arguments for this view both from 'medieval representations of architectural destruction' and from literary texts, such as a quotation from St. Thomas Aquinas. 6 These observations are correct as far as they go, but in my opinion they do not solve the problem, for they give rise to another question: why is there no mention in medieval literature of those ancient edifices that were kept up for functional reasons? There is no known description of the Parthenon prior to 1395; the Hagia Sophia is only briefly described by Arculf and about 700 years later by an anonymous Armenian writer. Thus I do not believe that a mere lack of interest in ruins or in damaged and incomplete statues was the main reason why silence was preserved about them. The reason should rather be sought in the mentality of medieval man, who hardly ever appears able to step outside his own familiar world-picture. This is seen not only with respect to the material remains of Antiquity, but also in the sphere of the immaterial. The picture of the knowledge of the Greek language in western Europe that was sketched at the end of the first part of this book shows striking similarities with what has been said in this study about the attitude of non-Greeks with regard to ancient monuments in Greece. In neither case is there much sign of any direct interest; even a reasonable degree of factual knowledge is almost entirely absent, and the few main characters who do stand out of the great amorphous mass are never any more than separate individuals. All that can be concluded from this is that it is not only the Greek language nor only the ancient monuments that lay outside the field of interest of medieval man, but that the entire Greek world, its language, religion, history and customs, left visitors from elsewhere almost entirely unmoved. All the more valuable, then, is the evi-

328

CONCLUSION

dence of the few authors described in this book. What makes the contribution of these travellers from various parts of Europe and also, to a smaller extent, from the Arab world, so important is that hardly anything was written in that period by the Greeks themselves, and among the Latin inhabitants, too, there is very little in the way of written evidence. In the travellers' tales one finds a combination of the personal observations of non-Greek travellers and, via the western section of the population, information about local Greek traditions and monuments. We have here the strange phenomenon that the picture, as we have it, of the state of the buildings and other antiquities in medieval Greece was largely shaped by non-Greeks. The travel books discussed in this study contain information of many different sorts: they provide some data however incomplete - about the political situation and about living conditions in medieval Greece. Specifically with regard to Antiquity they contain information about three aspects: first of all one can discover from them the state of a number of monuments and ruins, and the existence of a number of old traditions; at the same time one finds a little information about the way in which the Greeks themselves regarded the relics of their earliest history; and finally one can read in them how strangers reacted when confronted with the centuries-old remains of ancient culture.

UITGA YEN VAN HET NEDERLANDS HISTORISCH-ARCHAEOLOGISCH INSTITUUT TE ISTANBUL Publications de l'Institut historique-archeologique neerlandais de Stamboul sous la direction de E. van DONZEL, Machteld J. MELLINK, C. NIJLAND et J.J. ROODENBERG

XLIX

TRAVELLERS TO GREECE AND CONSTANTINOPLE Ancient Monuments and Old Traditions in Medieval Travellers' Tales Volume 11

TRAYELLERS TO GREECE AND CONSTANTINOPLE Ancient Monuments and Old Traditions in Medieval Travellers' Tales Volume II

by

J .P.A. V AN DER VIN

NEDERLANDS HISTORISCH-ARCHAEOLOGISCH INSTITUUT TE ISTANBUL 1980

Copyright 1980 by Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten Noordeindsplein 4a-6a, 2311 AH Leiden, Nederland

All rights reserved, including the right to translate or to reproduce this book or parts thereof in any form

ISBN 90 6258 049 1 Printed in Belgium

P AR T

I

NOTES

Introduction 1

Liudprandi ReZatio de Legatione ConstantinopoZitana~ in: Liudprandi episcopi Cremonensis opera omnia~ G.H. Pertz (ed.), Hannover, 1839, caput 58: 'asinando, ambulando, equitando, ieiunando, sitiendo, suspirando, flendo, gemendo Naupactum veni'. The order in which Liudprand lists his means of transport reveals his indignation; he considered it most unsuitable for an ambassador of the German emperor to have to travel on a donkey. The verb 'asinare' does not occur elsewhere in medieval Latin, and thus was specially coined by Liudprand for this occasion!

2

Leafing through the advertisements of travel bureaux one finds these arguments again and again; they are intended to persuade people to choose Greece - and also Turkey (the western part) - as a holiday destination.

3

Travel bureaux such as the Netherlands Organization for Study Tours of the Ancient World, which are geared to introducing clients to culture and historical monuments, concentrate entirely upon the ancient monuments. Other organizations, such as the Dutch Classical Society, organize study tours to bring members and other interested persons into contact with the material remains of the ancient culture.

4

R. Weiss,

Lettere 5

6

'Un umanista antiquario: Cristoforo Buondelmonti', 16 (1964), p. 111.

itaZiane~

Journal d'Antoine GaZZand pendant son sejour a Constanti~ nopZe (1672-1673), Ch. Schefer (ed.), Paris, 1881, p. 39. G. Steinhausen, 'Beitrage zur Geschichte des Reisens', AusZand~ 66 (1893), p. 206 and pp. 218-9 puts the date of the beginning of the journeys for the sake of cultural education at the beginning of the sixteenth century. It was in the seventeenth century that well-todo young men used to go on the Grand Tour through Europe; Italy, England and The Netherlands all formed a regular part of the programme.

Das

NOTES TO PP. 3 - 4

330

See also J. Berg, Aeltere deutsche Reisebeschreibungen~ Giessen, 1912, p.l. Berg takes as the end of his study the year 1600, because at about that time he sees a new form of travel account coming into being. 2 7 Cf. J.N.L. Baker, Medieval Trade Routes~ London , 1954. 8

H. Jedin,

Die deutsche Romfahrt von" Bonifatius bis

Winckelmann~ 9

10

11

Krefeld, n.d. p. 22.

D. Meehan (ed.), Adamnan's de locis sanctis~ Dublin, 1958. For the date: Meehan, op.cit, pp. 9-11. Cf. Ph. Grierson, review of A.R. Lewis, 'The Northern Seas' in English Historical Review~ 76 (1961), pp. 31115. It should, however, be borne in mind that in the early middle ages in many parts of Europe there was, not only a money economy but also widespread barter. For this see e.g. J.N.L. Baker, op.cit.; F. Vercauteren,

Etude sur les civitates de la Belgique seconde~ Brussels, 1934, pp. 445 ss; R.S. Lopez, 'Silk Industry in the Byzantine Empire', Speculum~ 20 (1945), pp. 1-42. With some hesitation I also mention here A.R. Lewis,

The Northern Seas. Shipping and Commerce in Northern Europe~ A.D. 300- 1100, Princeton, 1958. This work contains a great deal of material, but is so carelessly written that its data can hardly be used without first being checked. See the review by Grierson mentioned in note 10. 12

Lewis,

13

R.S. Lopez, 'Le probleme des relations anglo-byzantines du septieme au dixieme siecle', Byzantion~ 18 (1948), p. l42.

14

L. Brehier, 'Les colonies d' orientaux en Occident au commencement du moyen-age', Byzantinische Zeitschrift~ l2 (1903), pp. 1-39. J. Ebersolt, Orient et Occident. Recherches sur les

Northern Seas~ p. 455.

influences byzantines et orientales en France avant les Croisades~ Paris-Bruxelles-, 1928. M.J. de Goeje, 'Internationaal handelsverkeer in de Middeleeuwen', Verslagen en mededeelingen der koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen (afd. letterkundel~ 4e serie, 9 (1909), pp. 245-69. P. Lambrechts, 'le Commerce des "Syriens" en Gaule du Haut Empire a l'epoque merovingienne', l'Antiquite

NOTES TO PP. 5 - 9

331

classique~

6 (1937), pp. 35-61. It is still strange that Byzantium, that possessed a practically invincible fleet of warships (Greek fire!) was so little involved in trade and shipping. 1 5

Brehier, op. cit., pp. 11-6.

16

Vercauteren, op.cit., pp. 445-56.

17

Brehier, op. cit., p. 37.

18

Lewis, Northern Seas~ Maps: 1, circa A.D. 300 (p. 33); 2. circa A.D. 650 (p. 148); 3. circa A.D. 820 (p. 205); 4. circa A.D. 985 (p. 369); 5. circa A.D. 1100 (p. 475).

1 9

See note 1· for the blocked land route Legatio~ caput 46.

2

° Ch.

'

T. Wood,

1000 -

The Age of Chivalry~ Manners and Morals

1450~

London, 1970, specially the Prologue: The Formation of Medieval Europe, pp. 9-30. 21

G. Schlumberger,

Nicephore

Un empereur byzantin au dixieme siecle:

Phocas~

Paris, 1890, pp. 44-96. (siege of Kandak in 961). Also A.R. Lewis, Naval Power and Trade in the Mediterranean~ A.D. 500 - 1100~ Princeton, 1951, pp. 184-6 and for earlier Byzantine attempts at re-conquest, idem, pp. 141-2.

22

Wood, op.cit., chapter 6: The upper Orders and the Crusading Ideal, pp. 94-107.

23

In Byzantium Bertha had the name Irene (died 1159); Maria bore the Byzantine name Xena. Cf. Robert de Clari, eh. 52-54 (ed. Lauer, pp. 81-90).

24

Ventura: Memoriale Guilielmi Venturae civis Astensis de gestis civium astensium~ et plurium illorum~ Rerum Italicarum Scriptores~ ed. L.A. Muratori, Vol. XI, Milano 1727, cols. 191-192. caput XXVI: Mirandum est, quot passim ibant viri et mulieres, qui anno illo Romae fuerunt; ... Exiens de Roma in vigilia Nativitatis Christi vidi turbam magnam, quam dinumerare nemo poterat; et fama erat inter Romanos, quod ibi fuerunt plusquam viginti centum millia virorum et mulierum.

25

Villani: Historie fiorentine di Giovanni Villani~ cittadino fiorentino~ fino all' Anno MCCCXLVIII. Rerum Italicarum Scriptores~ ed. L.A. Muratori, vol. XIII, Milano, 1728, col. 367.

332

NOTES TO PP. 9 - 10

liber VIII, caput XXXVI: (l'anno del Giubileo). Per la qual cosa gran parte de' Christiani, che allhora viveano, feciono il detto pellegrinaggio, cosi femine come huomini, di lontani et diversi paesi, et di lungi et d'apresso; et fu la piu mirabile cosa, che mai si vedesse, che al continuo in tutto l'anno havea in Roma 200. mila di pellegrini, senza quelli ch'erano per li camini, andando et tornando, et tutti erano forniti et contenti di vettuaglia giustamente, cosi i cavalli comme le persone. 26

Cf. Fr. Rapp, 'Les pelerinages dans la vie religieuse de l'occident medieval aux XIVe et xve siecles, in: Les

pe-

lerinages de l'antiquite biblique et classique a l'occident medieval~ Paris, 1973, pp. 119-60. G.B. Parks, The English Traveler to Italy~ I. The Middle Ages (to 1525)~ Roma, 1954, pp. 354-6, and M. Romani, Pellegrini e viaggiatori nell' economia di Roma dal XIV al XVII secolo~ Milano, 1958, p. 12 ff. Ventura's figure of 2 million visitors can be compared with the 7 million visitors to the city of Rome in the holy year of 1975. 27

Dante, Divina Comedia~ Inferno, XVIII, 28-33: come i Roman per l'essercito molto (essercito =processione) l'anno del giubileo, super lo ponte hanno a passar la gente modo colto, che dall' un lato tutti hanno la fronte verso '1 castello e vanno a Santo Pietro; dall' altra sponda vanno verso il monte (= Monte Giordano on the left bank) 2 (edition N. Sapegno, Firenze , 1968.

28

Parks, op.cit., p. 356. Other figures for English travellers to Rome are given by Parks on pages 373-4; in the period up to 1525 the number of English visitors to Rome was probably usually less than 100 a year, and in some years even less than 25 a year.

29

Canon Pietro Casola's Pilgrimage to Jerusalem~

30

G. Constable, 'The Second Crusade as seen by Contemporaries' ,·Traditio~ 9, (1953), pp. 215-7.

M. Margaret Newett (ed.), Manchester, 1907, pp. 36-9. In the Venetian Archives: Misti del Senato~ XXXVII, 48-102b (anno 1381, more veneto)

333

NOTES TO PP. 10 - 13

31

For an assessment of the positive and negative factors e.g. J. Berg (note 6), pp. 1-51 and E.S. Bates, Touring

in 1600. A Study in the Development of Travel as a Means of Education> London, 1912, pp. 153-4. 32

See the chapter on knowledge of language and linguistic problems.

33

Niccolo da Martoni kept a record of his experiences from day to day!

34

Stephanus of Novgorod, in: Itineraires russes B. de Khitrowo (ed.), Geneva, 1889, p. 125.

35

Bates, op. cit., pp. 153-4; also J. Beckmann, Litteratur der aelteren Reisebeschreibungen> I, Gottingen, 1807,

en Orient>

pp. 168-9. 36

C. Jenkins in: Travel and Travellers of the Middle Ages> A.P. Newton (ed.), New York, 1926, chapter III, p. 40. Also N. Jorga, Les voyageurs franqais dans l'Orient europeen> Paris, n.d., pp. 5-6.

37

E.g. the equestrian statue of Justinian at Constantinople, described by Wilhelm von Boldensele.

38

A description of the exterior of the Hagia Sophia at Constantinople is found in practically none of the descriptions; quite a lot is said about the interior.

39

This tendency is found to a most striking degree in the work of Robert de Clari. Chapter I

1

Some modern studies on the subject of pilgrimages: Fr. Raphael, Le pelerinage. Approche sociologique, in:

les pelerinages de l'antiquite biblique et classique a l'occident medieval> Paris, 1973, pp. 10-30; J. Sumption, Pilgrimage> an Image of Mediaeval Religion> London, 1975. Also: A. Fliche et V. Martin (ed.), Histoire de l'eglise> XIV, Paris, 1962-4: E. Delaruelle, E.-R. Labande et P. Ourliac, l'eglise au temps du Grand Schisme et de la Grise conciliaire (13?8-1449)> pp. 573-600: "Pelerinages en Terre Sainte, Croisades et Missions," and pp. 787-820: "Culte des Saints, Reliques, Pelerinages, Indulgences". A key work is still B. Kotting, Peregrinatio religiosa.

Wallfahrten in der Antike und das Pilgerwesen in der alten Kirche> MUnster, 1950.

NOTES TO PP. 13 - 16

334

2

Itinera Hierosolymitana et descriptiones terrae sanctae bellis sacris anteriora et latina lingua exarata~ I, A. Molinier- T. Tobler (ed.), Geneva, 1879, pp. 1-25; A.P. Newton (ed.), Travel and Travellers of the Middle Ages~ New York, 1926, p. 31.

3

J. Jiri9ek, Die Heerstrasse von Belgrad nach Constantinopel und die Bal~anpasse. Eine historisch-geographische Studie~

Amsterdam , 1967, pp. 69-112.

4

P. Mickley (ed.), Arculf. Eines Pilgers Reise nach dem heiligen Lande (um 6?0)~ Leipzig, 1917. Also D. Meehan, Adamnan's de locis sanctis~ Dublin, 1958.

5

Beda, De locis sanctis, in: Itinera Hierosolymitana (note 2), pp. 213-34; the passage about Constantinople, pp.232-3. The text of Bede was mistakenly added to the work of Bernardus Sapiens, a 9th century pilgrim, cf. Recueil de

Voyages et de Memoires publie par la Societe de

geographie~

IV, Paris, 1839, M. d'Avezac (ed.), pp. 781-815. 6

Beda, op. cit., p. 233: 'sed cum patriam revisere vellet, navis qua vehebatur, post multos anfractus vento contrario ad nostram, id est Britonum insulam perlata est'.

7

Vita Willebaldi episcopi Eichstetensis, in: MGH.SS. XV, pp. 80-106; also Itinera (note 2), pp.241-81; the stay in Constantinople and the journey to Nicea, pp. 27~-2.

8

See R. Krautheimer, Early Christian and Byzantine 1965, pp. 50-1. Further details in part II, the west coast of Asia Minor.

Architecture~ 9

E.R. Labande, 'Recherches sur les pelerins dans l'Europe des XIe et XIIe siecles', Cahiers de Civilisation medievale~ Xe-XIIe siecles~ 1 (1958), pp. 159-69 and 339-47.

10

In the 13th century a form of co-operation grew up between the Venetian capta1ns, the Franciscans in Jerusalem who recieved the pilgrims and showed them round, and the Moslem officials who collected tolls and entrance money,

11

A description of the arrival and of the programme followed in the Holy Land, the climax of which were a visit to the Holy Sepulchre and a trip to the Jordan near Jericho, can be found in : R. Rohricht and H. JHeisner, Deutsche Pilgerreisen nach dem heiligen Lande~ Berlin, 1880, pp. 24-33.

NOTES TO PP. 16 - 18

12

13

335

Anonymous description of the route via the Balkans and Constantinople: Descriptio Itineris in Terram Sanctam, in: Eccardus~ corpus historicum medii aevi~ II, Leipzig, 1723, col. 1345. Treaty of Nymphaeum: K.l\L Setton, The Papacy and the (1204-15?1)~ I, Philadelphia, 1976, p. 91.

Levant~ 14

Rohricht-Meisner, op. cit., p. 103; and F. BonnardotA. Longnon (ed.), le Saint Voyage de Jherusalem du Seigneur d'Anglure~ Paris, 1878, p. 99. The loss of Cyprus to the Turks in 1571 made Venetian shipping in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea a dangerous and costly undertaking. Moreover, probably under the influence of the Reformation, interest in indulgences and thus also in pilgrimage, was greatly reduced. Cf. E.S. Bates, Touring in 1600. A Study in the .Development of Travel as a Means of Education~ London, 1912, p. 208.

15

The time of departure was chosen so that advantage could be taken of the north-west winds which prevailed in that region from June to September.

16

The German pilgrim Jacob Breuning describes how in about 1580 he could find no way of travelling from Venice direct to Palestine. Cf. J. Beckmann, Litteratur der alteren Reisebeschreihungen~ II, Gottingen, 1809, p. 273.

17

Stipulations about the duties of the captain can be found in: Canon Pietro Casola's Pilgrimage to Jerusalem~ M. Margaret Newett (ed.), Manchester, 1907, p. 25. Information about the contract with the captain in: Fratris

Felicis Fahri Evagatorium in Terrae Sanctae~ Arahiae et Egypti Peregrinationem~ C.D. Hassler (ed.), Stuttgart, 1843-1849, I, pp. 89-92. 18

A.S. Atiya, The Crusade 1938, pp. 101-3.

19

E.g. the amphitheatre of Pola, of which very little is said; it is mentioned by: Anglure (1395), c.21 (note 14) and Niccolo da Poggibonsi, A. Bacchi della Lega (ed.), pp. 12-3.

2

in the Later Middle Ages~ London,

° Cf.

21

Pierre de Cluny, Epistulae,II, 40 in Migne, PL. 189, col. 262, who wanted to visit Constantinople, not to see the 'aedificia vel ornatus', but only the numerous relics.

C.H. Haskins, 'A Canterbury Monk at Constantinople, c. 1090', English Historical Review~ 25 (1910), pp. 293-5.

NOTES TO P. 19

336

22

No inventory has ever been made of all the relics in Constantinople, but from many sources it appears that there were thousands of them, all to do with the life, passion and death of Christ, or with Mary, the apostles, martyrs and other saints. In venerating these relics, their authenticity was taken for granted, although their origin was frequently extremely doubtful; this typically medieval religious practice is something which is hardly comprehensible in our day. In the Hagii Apostoli church the scourging post was displayed; the Pantocrator monastery claimed to possess the stone from the Holy Sepulchre and in the monastery of St. John at Petra Christ's clothes, the crown of thorns and the spear with the sponge could be seen. The treasures of Hagia Sophia included a portrait of the Virgin painted by St. Luke, and also the grid on which St. Lawrence was martyred. A long list of relics in Constantinople is found in an anonymous document, published by S.G. Mercati, 'Santuari e reliquie Costantinopolitane secondo il codice Ottoboniano latino 169 prima della conquista latina (1204)',

Rendiconto deZZa pontificia Accademia Romana di ArcheoZogia~

12 (1936), pp. 133-56. Also in K.N. Ciggaar, Z'AngZeterre~ Leiden, 1976, chapter 2.

Byzance et 23

P. Riant, 'Des depouilles religieuses enlevees a Constantinople au XIIIe siecle et des documents historiques nes de leur transport en occident', Memoires de Za societe nationaZe des Antiquaires de France~ IVme serie, 6 (1875), p. 7 and p. 10.

24

Riant, op. cit., pp. 11-72, gives a detailed description of the events of 1204, the division of the loot and its transport to western Europe.

25

Itineraires russes en Orient traduits pour Za Societe de Z'Orient Zatin~ par Madame B. de KhitrohlO~ Geneva, 1889. Although the information given in this book is not always reliable, there is hardly any literature about Russian pilgrims outs·ide the Russian-speaking area.

26

P. Riant, Expeditions et peZerinages des Scandinaves en Terre Sainte au Temps des Croisades~ Paris, 1865.

27

From an ecclesiastical point of view the Patriarch of Constantinople can, in a way, be compared to the Pope in Rome. The great difference between them is that the Pope had also great influence in secular affairs, particularly

337

NOTES TO PP. 19 - 22

as in Rome there was no other king or emperor apart from himself. In principle the Patriarch had little political influence; this was partly the reason why the patriarch was able to keep his position under Turkish rule, and remained the central figure in the Greek Orthodox church. 28 See Ignatius of Smolensk, 29

chapter on envoys.

Rohricht-Meisner, op. cit., p. 3; J. de Saint-Genois,

Histoire des Voyageurs

belges~ I~

13me au l?me

siecle~

Brussels, 1846, pp. 14-5. 30

J. Sumption, Pilgrimage~ pp. 98-113; J.G. Endhoven, straf~ Leiden,1978 and idem, Leidsch Jaarboekje~ 1978, pp. 33-68.

Bedevaart als 31

Thomas a Kempis, The Imigation of Christ~ B.I. Knott (ed.), Fontana Books Birmingham, 1973, p. 216 (Book IV, 1,4).

32

The book by Santo Brasca (1480) gives a number of practical tips for pilgrims. The development he mentions was certainly not limited to his time. Cf. Casola (note 17)' p. 10.

33

Annales Stadenses, in MGH.SS. XVI, 333: immo numquam, qui redirent meliores'.

34

Jacques de Vitry, Historia Hierosolymitana~ c. 82, in: J. de Bongars, Gesta Dei per Francos~ Hanoviae, 1611, pp. 1096-7. Objections to the curiosity of pilgrims, idem, p. 1097: "Nonnuli autem ex his quos animi vanitas et inconstantiae levitas impellebant, non tam causa devotionis loca sancta visitaturi procedebant quam causa curiositatis et novitatis ad partes sibi incognitas transmigrabant, ut mira et inexpertis stupenda, quae de partibus Orientis audierant, non sine magno labore probarent".

35

Casola, op. cit., p. 145.

36

Casola, op. cit., p. 266.

37

C.R. Beazley, The Dawn of Modern Geography~ II, LondonOxford, 1901, p. 184 and pp. 203-7.

38

en Palestine de l'abbesse Euphrosine princesse de Polotsk (1173)', B. de Khitrowo (ed.), Revue de l'Orient latin~ 3 (1895), p. 32.

39

For a good idea of the form and contents of 11th-13th century travel descriptions:H. Michelant et G. Raynaud,

'vix aliquos vidi,

"-

'P~lerinage

NOTES TO PP. 23 - 25

338

Itineraires a Jerusalem et Descriptions de la Terre rediges en franqais aux XIme~ XIIme et XIIIme

Sainte~

siecles~ 4 0

41

42

Geneva, 1882.

S. Brock, 'A Medieval Armenian Pilgrim's Description of Constantinople', Revue des etudes armeniennes~ N.S. 4 (1967), pp. 81-102. G. Steinhausen,

'Beitrage zur Geschichte des Reisens ',

Das Ausland~ 66 (1893), p. 220. Itinerarium Egeriae (Peregrinatio

Aetheriae)~ 0. Prinz (ed.), Heidelberg, 1960. Prinz gives the probable date of this journey as 380 to about 420.

43

R. Rohricht- H. Meisner (note 11), p. 6; for nuns 'spiritual pilgrimages' were recommended.

44

F. Sierksma,

de westerse 45

Een en ander over de moslimse bijdrage aan beschaving~

Leiden, 1974, pp. 3-4.

The Itinerary of Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela~ translated and edited by A. Asher, London-Berlin, 1840 (2 vols). Also E. Adler, Jewish Travellers~ London, 1930. For biographical information, Asher, op. cit., VI-XIV.

46

The exilarch (Prince of the captivity) was the secular head of the autonomous Jewish community between the Tigris and the Euphrates (c. 2th-llth century A.D.). Cf. J. Soetendorp, Ontmoetingen in ballingschap~ I, 1351250, Zeist-Arnhem, 1964, pp. 127-9.

47

During the 18th century doubt arose as to the authenticity of Benjamin's work, partly because a number of place names were no longer to be found. The fact that over the centuries these names have changed by an evolutionary process has been shown for the Greek names by J. Lelewel, Geographie du Moyen-Age~ Brussels, 1852, part IV, pp. 3946. Such doubts have again been expressed in the present century by R. de Tucci, 'Benjamino di Tudela e il suo viaggio', Bolletino della Reale Societa Geografico Italiano~ VII, 6 (1941), pp. 496-517, who does not believe that Benjamin went on a journey at all. I see no reason, however, to doubt the authenticity of Benjamin's account.

48

A.M. Andreades, 'Sur Benjamin de Tudele', BZ. 30 (1930),pp. 457-60: Leucas suggested instead of Arta in Epirus.

49

Asher (note 45), II, p. 48, believes Benjamin to have been

NOTES TO PP. 25 - 26

339

present on December 25 1161 at the festivities on the occasion of the weddi~g of Emperor Manuel I and Mary of Poitiers, a sister of the Prince of Antioch. 50

In the text Aulon is mentioned; probably the small harbour of Noli near Savona, to the west of Genoa, is intended, Cf. K. Kretschmer, Die italienischen Portalane des Mittelalters~ Berlin, 1909, p. 594.

51

Heinrich von Herford, in: Liber de rebus memorabilioribus~ sive Chronicon ... ~ A. Potthast (ed.), Gottingen, 1859, p. 250.

52

Chronicon Mindense~ in: Rerum et antiquitatum germanicarum syntagma~ varios annales~ chronica et dissertationes comprendens~

C.F. Paullinus (ed.), Frankfurt/Main, 1698, p. 31 or the edition by K. Loffler, in: Mindener GeschichtsqueZZen~ I, Mlinster, 1917, p. 71. See also the edition by E.L. Grotefend, 'Die Edelherren von Boldensele oder Boldensen', Zeitschrift des historischen Vereins fur Niedersachsen~ 1852 (~855), pp. 227-8. A modern discussion of Wilhelm von Boldensele is found in: G. Schnath, 'Drei niedersachsische Sinaipilger um 1330: Herzog Heinrich von Braunschweig-Grubenhagen, Wilhelm von Boldensele, Ludolf von Sudheim', Festschrift Percy Ernst Schramm~ Wiesbaden, 1964, pp. 464-7~. The text of the Minden Chronicle is as follows: "Per idem tempus Otto de Nyenhusen de conventu Mindensi recedens nomenque suum mutans Wilh.elmum de Boldensele se nominavit: ex parte enim matris quae erat de genere illorum de Boldensele nobilis erat. Accessit ~d curiam Romanam et absolutione pro apostasia accepta ad terram sanctam perrexit quam ad instantiam unius cardinalium gratiose, sicut legenti patet, descripsit. Hie postea in sua reversione ad ordinem redire disponens Coloniae apud fratres Praedicatores defunctus est". 53

Heinrich von Herford, ed. A. Potthast, (note 5l), Gottingen, 1859, 250: "Item hoc anno (1332) dominus Wilhelmus de Boldensele, vir in cursibus suis et fortuniis multum singularis, fecit librum de partibus ultramarints gratiosum. Hie in veritate fuit apostata de ordine Praedicatorum de conventu Mindensi provinciae Saxoniae, dictus Otto de Nyenhusen, sed recedens ab ordine nomen suum mutavit, ne nosceretur et singularia multa mirabiliter gessit".

340

NOTES TO PP. 26 - 27

54

For the genealogy of the Boldensele family: Grotefend, op. cit., p. 209 ff. The Nyenhusen family probably also came from Lower Saxony; for Boldensele's father who may have been chamberlain to Archbishop Giselbert of Bremen, Schnath, op. cit., 466-7.

55

The Pope was resident at Avignon at this time, and we may assume that the Cu:nia was also there. Thus the term curia romana has nothing to do with place.

56

Boldensele, chap. 7, Grotefend, op. cit., p. 267, Schnath, op. cit., p. 470, doubts his membership of the Order of the Knights of St. John, and quotes this passage about the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre; he also doubts that Boldensele was an ordained priest, Schnath, op. cit., p. 470 note 38.

57

For the person of Cardinal Talleyrand: Grotefend, op. cit., p. 234 note 1.

58

Boldensele, Foreword; Grotefend, op. cit., p. 233: terram sanctam a pueritia visitare desideravi.

59

A.S. Atiya, The Crusade in the Later Middle Ages~ London, 1938, p. 113. See also the chapter about plans for Crusaders in the 14th and 15th centuries.

60

Epistula Guilielmi de Boldensele ad Petrum abbatem Aulae Regiae, dated: Datum Avinione anno Domini MCCCXXXVII in dieS. Michaelis (September 29). This establishes that Boldensele was present in Avignon by September 1337. See further: Grotefend, op. cit., pp. 236-7 and Schnath, op. cit., pp. 466-7.

61

Grotefend, op. cit., p. 231.

62

C.R. Beazley, The Dawn 1897, p. 394 note 3.

63

The term 'perlustrare litora', in the sense of 'visiting various places along the coast of ... ' is also used in the travel description of the Italian pilgrim Jacopo da Verona: ' .... Clarenzam, Cephaloniam et plures civitates principis Armoree (Morea) perlustravimus: Modon et Coron in Romaniae regione'. Cf. U. Monneret de Villard (ed.), Liber peregrinationis di Jacopo da Verona~ Roma, 1950, p. 15. Beazley's translation: 'He passed through ... and went by .... ' I do not consider correct (note 62).

of Modern Geography~ I, London,

NOTES TO PP. 28 - 31

341

64

See part II, Constantinople, statue of Justinian I on horseback.

65

Grotefend, op. cit., p. 239 note 1.

66

Boldensele, chapter 7. Grotefend, op. cit., pp. 268-9: 'et simplices dicunt ... , quod verum non est, quia ubi natura sufficit non est ad miracula recurrendum'. It should be mentioned that in the edition of J. Basnage, Thesaurus monumentorum ···~Amsterdam, 1725, p. 350, the quotation is included, but the words 'ut ait Aristoteles' are left out.

67

Boldensele, chapter 1, Grotefend, op. cit., p. 239.

68

idem, p. 240.

69

idem, p. 240.

70

idem, p. 250-2.

71

E. Ziebarth, 'Cyriacus von Ancona als Begrlinder der Inschriftenforschung', Neue Jahrbucher f.d. KZass. AZtertum~ V, Bd. 9 (1902), pp. 214-26; also, by the same author: 'Die Nachfolger des Cyriacus von Ancona', in: idem VI, Bd.11 (1903), pp. 480-93.

72

Beazley (note 62), p. 394 note 4.

73

Schnath, (note 52), p. 470. There is so far no clear survey of the different manuscripts and their variants.

74

Long John of Ypres, who was also the author of the Chronica monasterii sancti Bertini. The fact that there was a vernacular edition gave the work a wider circulation, since in the middle ages Latin was not, in fact, very widely known.

75

LudoZphi Rectoris eccZesiae parochiaZis in Suchem De Itinere Terrae Sanctae Liber~ F. Deycks (ed.), Stuttgart, 1851, preface.

76

ibidem.

77

For Jean de Mandeville see the chapter Other travel accounts.

78

G.A. Neumann, 'Ludolphus de Sudheim, De Itinere Terre Sancte', Archives de Z'Orient Zatin~ 2 (1882), documents, pp. 321-2. Also Schnath, (note 52), p. 470.

NOTES TO PP. 31 - 32

342

79

'Ludolf von Suthem', Zeitschrift fur vaterlandische (westfalische) Geschichte und Alterthumskunde~ N.F., 10

Evelt,

(1859), pp. 1-22 assumes that the 'c' and 't' which frequently look alike in 14th and 15th century manuscripts, have been changed round. What the manuscripts call Suchen thus becomes Suthen/Suthem, a place name which occurs several times in northern Germany. See also Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie~ s.v. Ludolf von Suchen, Bd. XIX, Leipzig, 1884, pp. 388-90. 8

° For

the two versions: Schnath, op. cit., p. 468, with notes 31 and 32. The first version is said to have been written for the Bishop of Osnabrlick, Gottfried (1321-49); the second was presented to Baldewin von Steinfurth, Bishop of Paderborn (1341-61) and is thought to date from 1350-61. .. Cf. c. Eubel, Hierarchia Catho Zica Medii Aevi ~ I, editio altera, Monasterii, 1913, p. 385: Balduinus resignavit et obiit 1361 (in March-April).

81

All the Latin MSS are unanimous that the journey began in 1336; the year of his return is given in some M:SS as 1350; there is probably some confusion between the date of his return and that of the appearance of the Paderborner version. In connection with the reference to the persecutions of the Jews in Germany (1348-9) this version should be dated as in any case 1350 or a little later, since Ludolf says that they had happened recently.

82

The Franciscan Master of Theology Elias de Nabinallis was Archbishop of Nicosia from 1332-42, cf. Eubel, op. cit., p. 365; for the person of Elias, see also G. Golubovich, Biblioteca bio-bibliografica~ Ill, FirenzeQuaracchi, 1919, pp. 395-404.

83

F. Deycks, de itinere~ p. 16. For the difference between nave (sailing ship), galeida (ship with oars),tarida (a mixture of the two): R.S. Lopez and I.W. Raymond, Medieval Trade in the Mediterranean World~ New York, 1955, p. 128 and note 88.

84

J. Morton Paton,

Chapters on Mediaeval and Renaissance

Visitors to Greek

Lands~

85

Ludolf, chapter XIII.

86

Deycks, op. cit., p. 3.

87

I. von Stapelmohr,

Princeton, 1951, p. 28.

Ludolfs von Sudheim Reise ins Heilige

NOTES TO PP. 32 - 35

343

Land~

Lund/Kopenhagen, 1937, p. 14 places the two texts side by side to demonstrate their interdependence.

88

Ludolf, Ch. XIII; Deycks,

89

Neumann,

90

See Part II, west coast of Asia Minor: Troy.

91

Ludolf, Ch. XVII, Deycks,

92

Cf. A. Ru~i6 y Lluch, La poblaci6 de la Grecia catalana en el xiven segle~ Barcelona, 1933, p. 17; by way of comparison Rubi6 y Lluch mentions the plundering of Majorca by the inhabitants of Pisa.

93

The passages about the Greek islands are indubitably borrowed from Boldensele.

9

itinere~ p. 17.

(note 78), p. 331 note 50.

~ Ludolf, Ch. XXII, Deycks,

95

de

de

de

itinere~ p. 23.

itinere~ p. 33.

B. van de Walle, 'A propos du graffite latin de la grande pyramide (C.I.L. III/I, no 21)', Chronique d'Egypte~ 38 (1963), pp. 156-60. Van de Walle shows that the description of this inscribed text by Jean Adornes, a citizen of Bruges who in 1470 went on a journey to the Levant, is not based upon a personal examination, but is based entirely on Boldensele's text. On the evidence of this inscription Adornes describes the piramid as the grave of an important Roman. See also C. Goyon, Les in-

scriptions et graffiti des voyageurs sur la grande pyramide~

Cairo, 1944. The description of the travels of Felix Faber, dating from the 1480s also includes the pyramid text. The passage is undoubtedly borrowed either from Boldensele or from Ludolf von Sudheim. For this see also H. Feilke, Felix Fabris Evagatorium uber seine Reise in das Heilige Land~ Bern, 1976, pp. 88-9.

96

In some MSS Chaldaice is found, in others the word is left out; Ludolf cannot be expected to have seen any difference between Hebrew and Chaldean; a hieroglyphic text is a likely possibility, as that would be something completely strange to him.

97

Ludolf, eh. XXXI, Deycks,

98

Stapelmohr (note 87), p. 131.

99

Cf. E. Bernard,

de itinere~ p. 55.

Inscriptions metriques de l'Egypte greco-

NOTES TO PP. 35 - 37

344

romaine~

Paris, 1969, p. 509; also Van de Walle, op. cit.,

p. 156. 100

A number of small textual variants are mentioned by Deycks, op. cit., p. 55; for a different version: Grotefend, op. cit., p. 251 note 1. The declination of the word 'pyramid' which does not exist in Latin, is responsible for some of the minor variants.

101

The 14th-century MS of Boldensele's work at Wolffenblittel (cod. Guelferb. Weissenb. 40) is the only one where the name is written as Cetiannus.

102

Cf. C.I.G. III, no. 4701. Flavius Titianus, praefectus Aegypti in the sixth year of the reign of Mar·cus Aurelius and Lucius Verus (166 A.D.).

103

Deycks,

104

de itinere~ p. 55 note 11. Boeckh, C.I.L. III/1, no. 21 suggests: lustra sex intra cens(eba)s consul is esse(t), but this does certainly not solve the problem.

105

Cf. F. Deycks, Ueber altere MUnster, 1848, p. 57.

106

See part II, Archipelago.

107

This work of Johann von Hildesheim, which contains. the legend of the Three Kings, dates from Ludolf's own time, on may have been written slightly later. Ludolf himself mentions a history of the Sainted Three Kings, which has not survived. Probably both authors used the now-lost work of an anonymous author from the Cologne area as a basis for their story. See A.D. von den Brincken, Die

Pilgerfahrten nach Jerusalem~

'Nationes Christianorum orientalium' im Verstandnis der lateinischen Historiogra:phie~ Cologne-Vienna, 1973, p, 71. The material of the anonymous writer itself goes back to a very considerable extent to the Armenian Haithon. 108

Deycks,

109

A. Magnaguti,

di 110

de itinere~ p. 85. 'Il Petrarca numismatico', 20 (1907), pp. 155-7.

Rivista Italiana

Numismatica~

In the text of the MS in Paris (Bibl. Nat. MSS. Fonds latin, 6521, fols. 67-103) Niccolo's home is given as Marthono. The most likely candidate is the very small place of Martoni, near Carinola. See L. le Grand, 'Rela-

NOTES TO PP. 37 - 38

345

tion du Pelerinage de Nicolas de Martoni, notaire italien (1394-1395)', Revue de Z'Orient Zatin~ 3 (1895), p. 577 note 1. 111 Niccolo spells the name of his region in various differ-

ent ways: Calenum, Calinola or civitas Calin(ensis). For the very reason that the MS was copied in 1397 in Rocco di Mondragone, a hamlet near the gates of Carinola, identification with this place is likely to be correct. Moreover, Carinola lies at the foot of the Mons Marsicus (Monte Massico) which is regularly referred to when comparisons are drawn in the narrative. See Le Grand, op. cit., 577, note 2. 112

Cf. R. Weiss, The Dawn of Humanism in Italy~ London, 1947, pp. 4-5 and idem, 'The Greek Culture of South Italy in the Later Middle Ages', Proceedings of the British Academy~ 37 (1951), pp. 23-50, particularly, p. 31. See also the chapter about language and linguistic problems.

11 3

Niccolo appears to have had a calendar with him on his travels, so that he was able to note the dates of his visits to particular places. Cf. in connection with his stay on the island of Thermia: 'Predicto die martis carnisprivii custodivimus vigiliam sancti Mathie Apostoli, quia sic inveni in caZendario mea~ et fecimus carnisprivium nostrum in litore maris ... ' (Le Grand, op. cit., p. 649).

114

Le Grand, chapter I, p. 577.

115

Indiction. In the middle ages time is very often calculated according to indictions. This system was prescribed by Justinianus (novella 47). It was based on a cycle of 15 years, counting from 3 B.C. (counting back). The number of cycles which have already passed is hardly ever given, only the number of the year within an indiction. There were various different systems; Niccolo calculated according to the indictio greca, or Constantinopolitana, which changed its number on September 1, See H. Grotefend, Taschenbuch der Zeitrechnung des deutschen MitteZaZters und der Neuzeit~ Hannover, 1941, p. 8ff and Tabelle VIII on p. 134.

116

The calculation of time according to the Church calendar was more usual in the middle ages than counting by the days of the month. See J. Beckmann, Litteratur der aZteren Reisebeschreibungen~ I, Gottingen, 1807, pp. 171-2.

NOTES TO PP. 38 - 41

346

117

11 8

Le Grand, op. cit., p. 634. The monastery of the Holy Cross was also visited in the same year by Jacopo da Verona; see the edition by U. Monneret the Villard, Roma, 1950, p. 19. S.B. Luce,

'Modon, a Venetian station in Mediaeval Greece',

Classical and mediaeval Studies in Honour of E.K.

Rand~

L. Webber Jones (ed.), New York, 1938, pp. 195-208. 11 9

Le Grand, op. cit., p. 579.

12 0

Le Grand, op. cit., p. 580.

121

Le Grand, op. cit., p. 581.

122

A.M. Woodward, 'The Gortyn 'Labyrinth' and its Visitors in the Fifteenth Century', BSA. 44 (1949), pp. 324-5. See also part II, Crete.

123

Le Grand, op. cit., pp. 585-6.

124

See part II, Archipelago, Rhodes.

125

Le Grand, op. cit., p. 640.

126

For a picture of the troubles and dangers in Greece in the second half of the 14th century: A.E. Vacalopoulos,

Origins of the Greek 1461~

Nation~

The Byzantine

Period~

1204-

New Brunswick, 1970, pp. 78-9.

127

Le Grand, op. cit., p. 644.

128

For this see part II, Archipelago, Cos.

129

The Venetians' entry into the city is thus established as having taken place at the end of 1394, and not at the beginning of 1395 as was originally believed. Cf. W. Judeich, 'Athen im Jahre 1395 nach der Beschreibung des Niccolo da Martoni, AM. 22 (1897), p. 433. For the problems surrounding ~he succession of Nerio I Acciajuoli, see K.M. Setton, The Catalan Domination of Athens~ Cambridge (Mass.), 1948, chapter 10: 'Athens under the Florentines and Venetians and contemporary Affairs in Greece', pp. 174-215.

13 0

Judeich, op. cit., p. 431, and note 2, hesitates between the roads of Lagonisi (which had no harbour) and the harbour of Porto Raphti, both places being about 35 km. from Athens. Paton (note 84) definitely chooses Porto Raphti as landing place. This seems to me to be the right solution, especially in view of the statues which

347

NOTES TO PP. 4l - 43

Niccolo saw at the harbour. Niccolo reckons in Italian miles of 1480 metres, a measurement which was used frequently in the late middle ages, and which was virtually the same as the Roman mile. 131

Judeich's hypothesis has several great attractions. Identification of the remaining one of the two idols with the statue, still in existence, at Porta Raphti seems to me very probable. See also part II, Central Greece.

132

Le Grand, op. cit., p. 649.

133

The inscription, which is still there, reads as follows: • A8fivat. enaEC.Us TIP t V TIOA l. s on the side nearest the town, and on the outer side are the words:

aGo' E: [a•

n

a(o•E:Ga•'Aopt.avou xat 6uxt enaEC.Us TIOAl.s. 134

The Heruli invasion under Gallienus (253-68) led to great devastation in Athens. See e.g. J. Day, An Economic History of Athens under Roman Domination~ New York, 1942, p. 238 ff.

135

It is likely that Niccolo put his request to the Italian inhabitants of the city. With them he need not expect any language problems. The most likely candidates for guides would be members of the court of the Florentine Dukes, who had come to know something about the local traditions. The Venetians only remained in the city for a few months.

136

On this question Judeich, op. cit., p. 434, and note 2, p. 435, and note 1.

137

For the meaning of Peripatetic: Liddell-Scott-Jones, Lexicon~ n:Ep l. n:a-rC:c.u (2): 'walk about while teaching, discourse! For Aristotle's teaching methods:F. Sassen, Geschiedenis van de wijsbegeerte der Grieken en Romeinen~ Hilversum-Amsterdam, 1966, p. 76.

A Greek-English

138

139

14 0

Paton, (note 84), p. 32 note 13. Not until the description by J. Transfeldt in l673 is the building correctly identified. Cf. Ad. Michaelis, 'J.G. Transfeldts Examen reliquarum antiquitatum Atheniensium', AM. 1 (1876), chapter 4, pp. 109-12.

Bi ldlexikon zur Topographie des antiken Athen~

J. Travlos

(ed.), Tlibingen, 1971, p. 403. 141

The palm is 25-30 cm. The height of the pillars is thus, according to Niccolo's estimate, about 20 metres; in fact

NOTES TO PP. 44 - 45

348

the height is 16m and the thickness at the foot 2 1 42 m. 1~2

Le Grand, op. cit., p. 650. The arch of Frederick II in Capua was a famous construction, built between 1233 and 1240; cf. C. Shearer, The Renaissance of Architecture in

Southern Italy~ A Study of Frederick II of Hohenstaufen and the Capua Triumphator Archway and Towers~ Cambridge, 1935. 1~3 1~~

Le Grand, op. cit., p. 574. Judeich, op. cit., p. 436. The division 6+7 also suggested by Paton, op. cit., p. 33 note 16,: 'the large hall must be the great western hall, with the six Ionic and seven of the exterior columns, the others being already walled up', but Paton does not explain how he gets at the seven outer columns.

1

~ 5 For the height and thickness of the columns: W. Judeich, Topographie von Athen~ Mlinchen, 1931, p. 251. The height is 10.40m. the thickness 1.905 m. The thickness of the columns was thus somewhat exaggerated!

1

~ 6 A. Michaelis, Der Parthenon~ Leipzig, 1871, p. 46; see also K.M. Setton, 'Athens in the Later Twelfth Century', Speculum~ 19 (1944), pp. 179-207 with on page 199 the ground plan of the Parthenon as a church, copied from the book by Michaelis.

1~7

Under the name of Dionysius the Areopagite (cf. Acts of the Apostles~ chapter 17, verse 34) four longer theological treatises survive from late Antiquity (5th century), all of them addressed to the pupil Timotheus; 11 short letters also survive. The identification with St. Dionysius of Paris (see next note) is found from the beginning of the 9th century. This was stimulated by Abbot Hilduin of St. Denis (d.844). The first doubts as to the correctness of this identification were expressed by Lorenzo Valla, but it was not until the 19th century that it was convincingly demonstrated to be wrong. See B. Altaner and A. Stuiber, Patrologie~ Freiburg, 1966, pp. 50lff. Also R. Loenertz, 'La legende parisienne deS. Denys l'Areopagite', Analecta Bollandiana~ 69 (l951), pp. 217ff. The ruins on the Areopagus of the Church of St. Dionysius the Areopagite go back no further than the 16th century; see J. Travlos and A. Frantz, 'The Church of St. Dionysios the Areopagite and the Palace of the Archbishop of

NOTES TO PP. 45 - 47

349

Athens in the 16th century', Hesperia 36 (1967), p. 164 and p. 192, but an older building is not impossible. 148 A Bishop Dionysius was martyred in Paris in 258 A.D.

(Mons Martyrum =Montmartre). He became the patron saint of France, whose feast falls on October 9. According to a 6th-century legend he came as a missionary to Gaul, where a few years later he was beheaded. 149 A canna is 2.10-2.60m.

long It is an Italian clothing measurement, but can only be given approximately. See Fl. Edler, Glossary of Mediaeval Terms of Business~ Italian Series, 1200-1600, Cambridge (Mass.), 1934. The width and height of the door are about 10 and 12 m.

150

See note 146.

151

In later texts the material used for the columns is not given as jasper but as porphyry. There appear to have been columns of jasper flanking the apse. See J. Spon and G. Wheeler, Voyage d'Italie~ de Dalmatie~ de Grece~ et du Levant~ fait aux annees 1675 et 1676~ Amsterdam, 1679, p. 1~9.

152

For the tradition about the icons of Mary painted by St. Luke the Evangelist, see R.L. Wolff, 'Footnote to an incident of the Latin occupation of Constantinople: The Church and the Icon of the Hodegetria', Traditio~ 6 (1948), pp. 319-28 (with bibliography); also G. Wellen, Theotokos~ Utrecht-Antwerpen, 1960, pp. 214-5.

153

See part II, Central Greece, Athens.

154

The Greek MSS of Niccolo's time were almost all written in the miniscule cursive script which had been usual since the 9th century. My opinion, however, is that what Niccolo saw was a luxurious early-Byzantine copy of the Bible in uncia! script, obviously one of the showpieces from among the treasures of the Parthenon church. Cf. for changes in kinds of script B.A. van Groningen, Greek Palaeography~ Leyden, 1963, pp. 32ff.

155

156

157

Pausanias, I, 21,3 and V, 12,4. Also mentioned in e.g. Cyriacus of Ancona, The Viennese and Paris anonyms. M. Collignon, 'Documents du XVIIe siecle relatifs aux Antiquites d'Athenes', CRAI. 4e S,25 (1897), p. 65 note~. Nerio Acciajuoli, the Duke of Athens who died in 1394,

350

NOTES TO PP. 47 - 50

had three illegitimate children, one son and two daughters. One of the daughters (Bartolomea) married Theodorus Palaeologus, the late born son of Emperor John V Palaeologus, and Despot of Mistra; the other daughter (Francesca) married Carlo Tocco, Count of Cefalonia. These two quarrelled about the inheritance of their father-in-law. See Setton (note 129). 158

Sykaminon, a small place on the east coast of Attica, about 3 miles from the sea and 18 miles from Negroponte. The present Sikaminon is about 5 km. from Oropos. See Hachette World Guides~ Athens and Environs~ Paris, 1962, Map. Cf. Le Grand, op. cit., p. 653 and 655.

159

The calculation of the perimeter of the island of Euboea as 300 miles is about right; the length of the island is about 180 km, while the width varies between 10 and 15 km. Near the town of Chalcis the distance between the island of Negroponte and the mainland is very small (only a few dozen metres). Cf. Procopius, de Aedificiis~ IV, 3.

160

The current in the sea strait between the two sides of the Gulf of Euboea is exceptionally fast (4,3 m per second). The direction of the current changes every couple of hours, for reasons which have not yet been explained. Cf. H. Scholte, Vakantiegids voor Griekenland~ Amsterdam, n.d., p. 84.

1 61

Le Grand, op. cit., p. 656.

162

Hachette World Guides~ Athens and Environs~ Paris, 1962, p. 334, Eleusis.

163

The connection Niccolo constantly makes between Corinth and the Macedonian king probably goes back to local tradition. This is a memory which has survived from the events of the years 338-336 B.C., when first Phi1ip II and later his son Alexander the Great were elected as leader of the united Greek states in the war against Persia. The Roman siege was that of Mummius in 146 B.C., during which a large part of the city went up in flames. See J.B. Bury, History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great~ London3, 1956, pp. 732ff.

164

The little place of Examilia, about 5 km south of Corinth, still recalls this name.

165

Suetonius, Nero, chapter 37.

NOTES TO PP. 50 - 53

351

166

See part II, Central Greece, Corinth-Isthmus.

167

The exact position of this little church cannot be determined. The place can still be seen, however, where the apostle Paul had to defend himself and his faith before the Roman governor Gallio (Acts of the Apostles 18, 1217): on the Bema, the rostrum of the lower Agora, where the Roman proconsul normally sat in judgement.

168

Le Grand, op. cit, p. 661.

169

For the importance of these passages see part II, Central Greece, Patras.

170

The MS was originally in the library of the Colegio mayor de S. Bartolome de Cuenca in Salamanca, then (in 1926) in the Biblioteca Patrimonial (Sala 2a J. Pl .. 4). The date is given as early 18th century.

171

Andanqas e viajes de Pero Tafur por diversas partes del mundo avidos (1435-1439)~ Madrid, 1874 (2 vols.) in: Coleccion de libros espanoles raros 6 curiosos~ VIII, M. Jimenez de la Espada (ed.).

172

Pero

173

J. Vives, 'Andan9as e Viajes de un hidalgo espanol (14361439), con una descripci6n de Roma', Gesammelte Aufsatze zur Kulturgeschichte Spaniens~ 7 (1938), pp. 127-206. Vives, by contrast with Jimenez and Letts, dates the departure of Pero Tafur in 1436. See also 0. Castellieri, 'Peter Tafur, ein spanischer Weltreisender des 15. Jahrhunderts', Festschrift Alexander Castellieri~ Weimar, 1927, pp. 1-47.

174

Jimenez, p. 2; Letts, pp. 19-20.

175

Here Pero Tafur gives his own version of the Genoese tradition that the city was founded in the time of Abraham by a certain Janus, king of Italy and great-grandson of Noah. An inscription in Gothic script in the cathedral states: 'Janus rex Italiae de progenie gigantium qui fundavit januam tempore abrae'. Cf. G. Banchero, Il Duomo di Genova~ Genova, 1855, p. 155 and p. 322 (Iscrizioni No. 22). Janus was said to have settled down

Tafur~ Travels and Adventures 1435-1439~ M. Letts (ed.), London 1926. This translation is generally reliable; for a detailed study of the text of Pero Tafur, however, the Spanish edition is indispensable, as in Letts' translation some short passages are left out.

•

352

NOTES TO P. 53

in the city later, after wandering over the sea in search of a safe place to live. He brought Genoa into its heyday. Cf. R.W. Carden, The City of Genoa~ London, 1908, p. 1. For the preference shown by many cities and peoples for being descended from the Trojans, see part II, West coast of Asia Minor, Troy, 176

d·7

Jimenez, p. 35, Letts p. 43. contrast his conviction that able to list for him all the odour. For the visit to Rome op. cit., pp. 190-206.

Pero expresses by way of the Romans would have been inns and places of bad see especially Vives,

The old church of St. Peter: Jimenez pp. 24-6, Letts, pp. 36-7. The obelisk and the mistaken interpretation of the inscription on it: Jimenez, p. 26. Letts, p. 37 and p. 236 note 3.

178

The equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, see G.M.A. Hanfmann, Meesterwerken der Romeinse kunst~ AmsterdamBrussels, 1966, p. 40, plate III: the philosopher as emperor. A detailed description of this statue and its role in the middle ages: E. Rodocanachi, Le Capitole Romain antique et moderne~ Paris, 1904, pp. 70-7. On the interpretation of the equestrian statue of the Capitol: G.McN. Rushforth, 'Magister Gregorius de Mirabilibus Urbis Romae; a new Description of Rome in the Twelfth Century', JRS. 9 (1919), pp. 14-58 and especially p. 21 (4): 'ante palatium domini pape'. Also H.S. Versnel, 'Wie was Marcus? Een hoofdstuk uit de Narracio de mirabilibus Urbis Romae van Magister Gregorius', Her.meneus,45 (1973-1974), pp. 130-42.

179

Letts, op. cit., pp. 34, 36 and 42. According to Jimenez, op. cit., pp. 503-6, the reference is to Pope Gregory I the Great. For an account of his pontificate: F.X. Seppelt and K. Loffler, De geschiedenis der pausen~ Maastricht, 1939, pp. 75-81. According to E. Rodocanachi, Les monuments de Rome apres la chute de l'empire~ Paris, 1914, p. 164 the monuments destroyed by this pope included the great Helios statue of Nero, next to the Colosseum. In the Mirabilia Urbis Romae of Magister Gregorius Pope Gregory is three times referred to as the destroyer of antique monuments, see Rushforth, op. cit., p. 18 note 1 (in the chapters 4, 6

NOTES TO PP. 53 - 55

353

and 12). Cf. T. Buddensieg, 'Gregory the Great, the Destroyer of Pagan Idols', Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes~ 28 (1965), pp. 44-65. Other Popes (Sylvester and Boniface III) are also said to have taken similar action against ancient remains, cf. Rodocanachi, op. cit., p. 165 note 1. For a more favourable judgment of Gregory: Bede, Historia ecclesiastica~ I, 30; see also Lexikon der christlichen Ikonographie~ s.v. Gregorius I. 180

Letts, op. cit., p. 43 and p. 236 note 1. Also F. Gregorovius, Geschichte de2 Stadt Rom im Mittelalter~ Band VI, Buch XII, Stuttgart , 1871, p. 607 note 2. In 1411 five wolves were killed in the gardens of the Vatican.

181

See note 17.

182

Letts, op. cit., p. 49. See also part II, Central Greece, Corinth- Isthmus.

183

R. Matton, La Crete au cours des siecles~ Athens, 1957, p. 114. Also R. Pashley, Travels in Crete~ I, London, 1837, pp. 175-6. See also part II, Crete.

18

~ Jimenez, p. 47.

185

See part II , Cre t e.

186

Matton, op. cit., p. 104.

187

Jimenez, pp. 48-9; also part II, Archipelago, Rhodes.

188

Jimenez, p. 63; Letts, pp. 61-2. The Irish pilgrim-monk Symon Semeonis (1334) already speaks a century earlier about the refusal to admit Christians into the Omar Mosque: M. Esposito (ed.), Itinerarium Symonis Semeonis ab Hybernia ad Terram Sanctam~ Dublin, 1960, p. 110: 'Ubi nunc est ecclesia Sarracenorum, qui est spherice figure, ad quam nullum Christianum permittunt accedere'.

189

W. Heyd, 'Der Reisende Nicolo de' Conti', Das Ausland~ 20 Juni 1881, pp. 481-3 and Letts, op. cit., p. 241 note 2.

190

Another author who noted the stories of Niccolo de' Conti is the papal secretary Poggio Bracciolini, in: Historiae de varietate fortunae~ IV, Paris, 1723, pp. 126-48. This text appeared in English in: India in the 15th Century~ R.H. Major (ed.), London, 1857. The accounts of Pero Tafur and Poggio Bracciolini in fact contain entirely different stories.

354

NOTES TO PP. 55 - 57

1 91

In all medieval stories about the Far East Prester John plays an important part. See F. Zarncke, Der Priester Johannes~ Leipzig, 1876-1879; also: Lexikon fur Theologie und Kirche~ Bd. 5, col. 1072.

192

Jimemez, pp. 127-9; Letts, pp. 107-9 and p. 242 notes 4 and 5.

193

Jim€mez, p. 134; Letts, p. 113.

194

Jim€mez, p. 137; Letts, p. 115.

195

Jimenez, pp. 139ff; Letts, pp. 117ff. For a more detailed account of the complicated family relationships: Jimenez, pp. 480ff.

196

Jimenez, pp. 151-2; Letts, pp. 124-5.

197

Jimenez, pp. 159ff; Letts, pp. 131ff and p. 244 notes 1 and 2.

198

Jimenez, p. 160; Letts, pp. 131-2 and especially p. 139.

199

This bulla: Letts, p. 133.

200

Jimenez, p. 146; Letts, p. 122.

201

Pero's statement is incorrect, for the last two columns had already been erected in the square near the Doges' palace in 1172; they came originally from Syria. The origin of the bronze winged lion is not clear; even China has been suggested. St. Theodore is actually fighting a crocodile. See M. Brion, Venice~ The Masque of Italy~ 2 London , 1967, p. 216 note 14. For the bronze horses: part II, Constantinople, Hippodrome.

202

Jimenez, p. 206; Letts, p. 164.

203

Despot Dragas became the last Emperor of Constantinople, Constantine XI Palaeologus (1449-1453); he was the son of Manuel II and Irene Dragases, and was born in 1403. Before he became emperor he spent a number of years living as Despot of the Morea at Mistra. For a detailed biography: Jimenez, 420-2.

204

In his short version of the Liber Insularum Archipelagi Buondelmonti mentions 800, in the longer version 900.

205

The reference is to the Pantocrator (i.e. Christ) in the dome.

NOTES TO PP. 57 - 59

355

206

Cf. Clavijo, Embassy to Tamerlane~ 1403-1406~ G. le Strange (ed.), p. 76, who claims that a hundred galleys could have sailed in this cistern. See also Part II, Constantinople, water supply.

207

See Part II, Constantinople, statue of Justinian I.

208

Clavijo, op. cit., p. 84 calls this church the Santa Maria de la Vessetria (i.e. Hodegetria). He does not, in contrast to Pero Tafur, mention the Passion on the reverse side of the icon. The icon is said to have disappeared during the invasion of the city. After 1453 there is no further mention of it. See also Part II, Constantinople, churches and monasteries, and G.A. Wellen, Theotokos~ Utrecht-Antwerpen, 1960, pp. 213-5.

209

See Part II, Constantinople, palaces.

21 0

Jimenez, p. 176; Letts, p. 142. See A. Vasiliev, 'Pero Tafur. A Spanish Traveller of the fifteenth century and his visit to Constantinople, Trebizond and Italy,' Byzantion~ 7 (1932), p. 107 note 6. For more details Part II, Constantinople, churches and monasteries.

211

For the use of the serpentine column as a fountain: Reports~ London, 1928, p. 14.

Preliminary 212

See Part II, Cons t an t·1nop 1 e, H"1ppo d rome.

213

Jimenez, pp. 177-8; Letts, p. 143.

214

The great problem in searching for the background of these stories is that they often sprang up suddenly, and just as suddenly disappeared again. In most cases there is thus no conscious continuous tradition. The stories in the Patria~ a work which was wrongly attributed to Codinus (15th Century), which in fact goes back mainly to the lOth century, can be found in: Scriptores originum Constantinopolitanarum~ Th. Preger (ed.), Part 2, New York2 , 1975. Also Ch. Diehl, 'De quelques croyances byzantines sur la fin de Constantinople', BZ. 30 (1930), 192-6.

215

Jimenez, p. 178; Letts, p. 143.

216

Ch. Diehl, 'Un voyageur espagnol a Constantinople au XVe siecle', Melanges Gustave Glotz~ I, Paris, 1932, p. 326.

NOTES TO PP. 59 -

356

6~

217

Jimenez, p. 178; Letts, p. 144. The connection with the thermae of Zeuxippus is not entirely certain. Vasiliev, op. cit., p. 109 note 29 says 'perhaps', Letts p. 245 note 8 says 'possibly'. This identification is, however, quite probable, considering the Thermae of Zeuxippus were situated near the Hippodrome. The statue of Aphrodite referred to in the Patria stories stood on the Zeugma.

218

Jimenez, p. 178; Letts, p. 144.

219

Jimenez, pp. 179-80; Letts, pp. 144-5; Diehl, Voyageur, pp. 324-5. This legend is also found in the Patria.

220

This passage (and several others of the same sort) show that Pero Tafur wrote his book some years after his journey, when he was back home in Spain, probably working from notes made en route.

221

Jimenez, pp. 180-1; Letts, p. ~45.

222

Jimenez, p.

223

Jimenez, p. 590 says that there is disagreement among writers of Byzantine history about the whereabouts of the library in the imperial palace.

224

Jimenez, p. 149 and pp. 181-2; Letts, p. 123 and 146-7.

225

Jimenez, p. 181; Letts, p. 146.

226

Jimenez, p. 183; Letts, p.

227

Diehl (note 216), pp. 323.

228

Cf. Vasiliev, (note 210), pp. 115-6; Letts, p. 245 note 11 (mistakenly in my view) associates this Turkish advance with an unsuccessful attempt to besiege the city in JuneAugust 1422.

229

Jimenez, p. ~86; Letts, p. ~49. Pero had already mentioned this harbour earlier (see Letts p. 115) as one of the best in the world, suitable for ships of every draught.

230

Jimenez, pp. 186-7; Letts, p. 150.

231

Letts translation, p. 151, 'very lofty island' is wrong. The Spanish 'escullo' (Jimenez p. 188) means simply 'rock' and is etymologically related to the Greek 'skopelos'. Pero uses the word here to refer to the peninsula of the Athos.Cf Vasiliev, op. cit. p. 118 note 1.

~81;

Letts, p.

~45.

~47.

NOTES TO PP. 61 - 65

357

232

Jimenez, p. 590; later on the five arches of the old bridge a new one has been built.

233

Jimenez, p. 200; Letts, p. 159. Jimenez, p. 593 gives a short summary of the valuable stones in the magnificent altar retable of San Marco, the Pala d'Oro. A modern publication about this famous work of art, in which many details are illustrated separately, G. Lorenzoni, La Pala d'oro di San Marco~ Florence, 1965.

23

~ The concilium of Basel, which opened on July 23 1431, was declared closed by Pope Eugenius (1431-47) on December 18 of that year. It continued to meet, however, and on December 15 1433 the Pope declared it legalized. In January 1438 the Pope convened a new concilium in Ferrara about union with the Eastern church. In 1439 this meeting moved to Florence. The church union which was at last decided upon was rejected almost unanimously, however, by the Greeks, which meant that the emperor had to do without that western support which he so badly needed. For this see J. Gill, The Council of Florence~ Cambridge, 1959 and the rather outdated but still useful work of J. Zhisman, Die Unionsverhandlungen zwischen den orientalischen und romischen Kirchen~ Wien, 1858. Also Cambridge Medieval History~ IV, 2 pp. 621ff, H. Jedin, Kleine Konziliengeschichte~ Freiburg (im Br.), 1959, pp. 72ff. and J. Gill, Personalities of the Council of Florence~ Oxford, 1964.

235

For the journey through Germany and the Burgundian Netherlands: K. Habler, 'Peter Tafurs Reisen im Deutschen Reiche in den Jahren 1438-1439', Zeitschrift fur allgemeine Geschichte~ 4 (1887), pp. 503-29.

236

Pero Tafur's narrative breaks off when the ship reaches Sardinia. Letts assumes, on good grounds, that only the last page of the MS is missing; the MS must have been used as an example for the surviving MS in Salamanca. Letts, p. 1.

237

Thl."s s1.gna · t ure l.·s repro d uce d 1.n · L e tt s, p. 20 .

238

E.g. in Jimenez, pp. 179-80; Letts, p. 145. Chapter II

1

An account of the history of the Crusades with an extensive bibliography in S. Runciman, History of the Crusades~

NOTES TO PP. 65 - 67

358

3 vols.,Cambridge, 1951-1955 (in paperback, Peregrine, edition, 1965); K.M. Setton, (ed.) A History of the Crusades~ Philadelphia, 1962. 2

G. Constable, 'The Second Crusade as seen by Contemporaries', Traditio~ 9 (1953), p. 225.

3

H. Prutz, p. 17.

Kulturgeschichte der Kreuzzuge~ Berlin,1883,

~ P. Charanis,

'Aims of the Medieval Crusades and how they were viewed by Byzantium', Church History, 21 (1952), pp. 123-4. (based on the Byzantine chronicle of Theodorus Skutariotes).

5

H. Prutz, op. cit., p. 456.

6

For the various motives: Charanis, Aims (note 4), pp. 123-34. Also: P. Charanis, 'Byzantium, the West and the Origin of the First Crusade', Byzantion~ 19 (1949), pp. 17-36.

7

B. Ebels-Hoving, Byzantium in Westerse Ogen~ 1096-1204~ Assen, 1971, pp. 48-92 with a summary on pages 91-2. I have made regular use of this work for the period up to 1204.

8

Guibert of Nogent, Gesta Dei per Francos~ 1,4; in Recueil des historiens des Croisades~ publie par les soins de l'Academie des Inscriptions et Belles lettres~ Historiens occidentaux~

5 vols., Paris, 1841 -- (further referred to as Recueil), IV, Paris, 1879, p. 132.

9

Robert of Rheims, Historia Iherosolimitana~ II, 20; in III, Paris, 1866, pp. 750-1.

Recueil~ 10

Robert of Rheims, l,c_ 'ideo talis est effecta urbs regia Constantinopolis ut sanctarum reliquiarum foret tutissima regia.'

11

Foucher of Chartres, Historia Hierosolymitana~ I. 9, H. Hagenmeyer, (ed.), Heidelberg, 1913, pp. 176 ff.

12

For the Byzantine silk monopoly, R.S. Lopez, 'Silk Industry in the Byzantine Empire', Speculum~ 20 (1945), pp. 1-42.

13

Bartolf of Nangis, Gesta Francorum expugnantium Iherusalem~ caput V, in Recueil~ III, Paris, 1866, p. 494.

1~

Ebels-Hoving, op. cit., p. 77.

NOTES TO PP. 67 - 69

359

15

Both Guibert of Nogent and Robert of Rheims should be seen as followers of the anonymous author of the Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolimitanorum. See EbelsHoving, op. cit., p. 48 (plan). For the Gesta: Histoire anonyme de la premiere croisade~ L. Brehier (ed.), Paris, 1924. A description of Constantinople is not found in this work, however, so Guibert and Robert must have got these passages from other eye-witnesses.

16

J.K. Wright, Geographical Lore of the Time of the Crusades,New York, 1925, p. 293.

17

Cf. Lupus Protospatharius, Chronicon~ in Rerum italicaScriptores~ L. Muratori (ed.), V. ad annum 1096, p. 47. Also Frutolf of Michelsberg, Ekkehardi Uraugensis Chnonica~ G. Waitz (ed.), in MGH.SS. ad annum 1097, p. 208.

rum

18

Constable, (note 2), pp. 213ff, Ebels-Hoving, op. cit., pp. 124-44.

19

Odo of Deuil, De Profectione Ludovici VII in Orientem~ M. Guizot (ed.), Paris, 1825, p. 322 (French translation); V. Berry (ed.), New York, 1948, p. 64 (Latin text with English translation). 'ipsa quidem sordida est et fetida multisque in locis perpetua nocte damnata'.

2 0

Odo, op. cit., p. 86 (ed. Berry).

21

Odo, idem. 'si autem careret his vitiis, aere temperato et salubri fertilitate soli et transitu facili ad fidem propagandam posset locis omnibus anteferri'.

22

Ebels-Hoving, op. cit., pp. 142-4 and 164-5. Also A. Frolow, 'La deviation de la IVe croisade vers Constantinople', Revue de l'histoire des religions~ 146 (1954), pp. 68-9.

23

Die Eroberung van Konstantinopel als politische Forderung des Westens im Hochmittelalter. Studien zur Entwicklung der Idee eines Zateinischen Kaiserreichs in Byzanz~ Zurich, 1969, pp. 138-45. Also S. Kindlimann,

R.L. Wolff, 'Romania, the Latin Empire of Constantinople', 23 (1948), p. 30 note 145. A different view is taken by Ebels-Hoving, op. cit., pp. 121-3, who rejects the direct relationship with the second Crusade; her arguments for doing so do not seem to me to be convincing. Edition: Karls des Grossen Reise nach Jerusalem und

Speculum~

NOTES TO PP. 69 - 71

360

Constantinope~

E. Koschwitz (ed.), Heilbronn, 1883.

24

In the work of the monk Benedictus in the monastery of St. Andrew on Mount Soracte, see MGH.SS. III, pp. 692ff.

25

For the influence of the relics: R. Folz,

la legende de dieval~

Charlemagne~

le Souvenir et dans l'empire germanique me-

Paris, 1950, pp. 179-81.

26

For the evolution of the legend: G. Paris, Histoire poetique de Charlemagne~ Paris 2 , 1905, pp. 337-44.

27

J. Petersohn, 'Saint Denis- Westminster- Aachen. Die Karls-Translatio von 1165 und ihre Vorbilder', Deutsches Archiv f. Erforschung des Mittelalters~ 31 (1975), pp. 420-4.

28

The misdeeds of the crusaders on their journey through the Balkans led to increasingly fierce opposition by the local population. B. Primov, 'Manifestations of Common Features and Unity of the Balkan Peoples in the Middle Ages until the 14th Century', Actes Ie Congres intern. des etudes balcaniques et sud-est europeennes~ III, Sofia, 1969, pp. 263-4.

29

For the reasons which led Barbarossa to decide not to attack Constantinople, Ebels-Hoving, op. cit., pp. 24-5 with notes 73-9, where the old and the new approaches to this question are compared. For the letter of Frederick I to his son Henry VI written at Philippopolis: R. Folz,

30

le souvenir et la legende de Charlemagne dans l'empire germanique medieval~ Paris, 1950 264-5. Robert in Recueil, III, p. 732: Foucher in Recueil, III, p. 331.

31

Some recent studies about the fourth Crusade: A-Frolow,

Recherches sur la deviation de la IVe Oroisade vers Constantinople~

Paris, 1955. D.E. Queller en S.J. Stratton, 'A Century of Controversy on the Fourth Crusade', Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History~ VI, (1969), pp. 233-77; and S. Kindlimann, op. cit. All the theories relating to the fourth Crusade are collected in: A.A. Vasiliev, History of the Byzantine Empire~ Madison2, 1952, pp. 456ff. 32

For the size of the fleet: D.E. Queller, 'A Note on the Reorganisation of the Venetian Coinage by Doge Enrico Dandolo', 'Rivista italiana di numismatica~ 23 (1975),

361

NOTES TO PP. 71 - 73

pp. 167-72. (about 200 ships for 33,500 soldiers and 4,500 horses). 33

For a rejection of this view of the fourth Crusade: Ebels-Hoving, op. cit., pp. 35-9, where a number of old and modern publications on this subject are critically considered.

34

W. Norden,

35

P. Riant, Exuviae sacrae ConstantinopoZitanae~ !,Geneva, 1877, p. XL, Idem, Des depouiZZes reZigieuses~ p. 14.

35

B. Hendrickx, 'Wat vonden de kruisvaarders in 1203/4 in Constantinopel en wat dachten zij over de Griekse schatten en het Griekse verleden?',Hermeneus~ 41 (19691970), p. 76.

37

Nicetae Choniatae

Der vierte Kreuzzug im Rahmen der Beziehungen des AbendZandes zu Byzanz~ Berlin, 1898, p. 71.

Historia~ de Signis, ed. Bekker,

(Bonn),

1835, pp. 859-60. 38

When Alexius I seized the throne by force he conquered Constantinople (1081); the city was then plundered by his troops for three days. See William of Apulia, Gesta Roberti Wiscardi, IV, 150, in MGH.SS. IX, p. 282.

39

K.M. Setton, 1976, p. 12.

40

An eye-witness account of the plundering of the Hagia Sophia can be found in the chronicle of Novgorod; it was written by a Russian who was in the Byzantine capital at the time, in transit. For this see R. Pernoud, Die Kreuzzuge in Augenzeugenberichten~ Dlisseldorf 2 , 1962, pp. 2634. A Latin version of this chronicle is found in: Chroniques greco-romanes~ inedites ou peu connues~ Ch. Hopf (ed.), Berlin, 1873.

41

P. Riant, 'Des depouilles religieuses enlevees a Constantinople au XIIIe siecle, et des documents historiques nes de leur transport en accident,' Memoires de Za Soc •. Nat. des Antiquaires de France~ IVe Serie, tome VI (1875), pp. 1-214.

42

Nicetae Choniatae Historia~ 858 ss. (Bonn). See C. Mango, 'Antique Statuary and the Byzantine Beholder', DOP. 17

The Papacy and the Levant~ I, Philadelphia,

(1963), pp. 55-75. 43

Villehardouin, eh. xxvi.

NOTES TO PP. 73 - 78

362

44

Clari, eh. 82 (Bucoleon palace) and eh. 83 (Blachernae palace).

45

Clari, eh. 84.

46

Hendrickx, op. cit., p. 75.

47

A.M. Nada Patrone, La conquista 1216)~ Genova, 1972, pp. 36-8.

48

Historiens et chroniqueurs du Moyen-Age~ A. Pauphilet

di Constantinopoli (1198-

(ed.), Paris, 1938, p. 73. 49 Robert de Clari, La conquete de Constantinople~ Ph. Lauer (ed.), Paris, 1924, pp. iii-x. 50

The place of Clari's work in the literature of his area and his time is discussed in detail by Nada Patrone, op. cit., pp. 3-38.

51

For the chain: A. van Millingen, Byzantine Constantinople~ London, 1899, pp. 228-9; Clari, chapters 43-4, pp. 29-30.

52

The altar had an altar retable comparable to the Pala d'Oro in Venice.

53

Nada Patrone, op. cit., p. 220 note 22.

54

Cf. P.E. Schramm, Sphaira~ Globus~ Reichsapfel~ Stuttgart, 1958, pp. 14-5 and pp. 24-8.

55

Gautier d'Arras, Eracle, published in 1164. Editions: L. Loseth, Oeuvres de Gautier d'Arras~ I: Eracle~ Paris, 1890 and G.A. de Lage, Eracle~ Paris, 1976.

56

Cf. mosaic with circus in the villa at Piazza Armerina: G.V. Gentili, La villa Eraulia di Piazza Armerina. I mosaici figurati~ Roma, n.d., plates VII-XIII; the decorated spina in Plate IX.

57

For the automata: E. Faral,

58

Nicetas Choniates, Historia~ ed. Bekker (Bonn), 1835, p. 739.

59

Ch. Diehl, 'De quelques croyances byzantines sur la fin de Constantinople', BZ. 30 (1930), pp. 192-6. Diehl shows that even before 1204 there was already some pess~m~sm in Constantinople about the future. The inhabitants be-

Recherches sur les sources latins des contes et romans courtois du Moyen-Age~ Paris, 1913, pp. 328-35 and L. Olschki, Storia letteraria delle scoperte geografiche~ Florence, 1937, pp. 96-100.

363

NOTES TO PP. 78 - 81

lieved that in many inscriptions and pictures they could see: ~as €oxa~as to~opCas ~ns TIOAEWs Mat ~aG

aAWOELs. 6

'°

For the various ways in which historiographers looked for excuses: Ebels-Hoving (note 7), pp. 218-45.

61

The two female figures: Clari, eh. 91; the column: Clari, eh. 92, Villehardouin, eh. 118.

62

Emphasis on the providential character in the work of Gunther of Pairis, Historia captae Constantinopoleos~ in: Migne, PL. ccxii, cols. 221ff. (dated about 1207-8); particularly in columns 237-8 the divini honitatis consilium occupied a central place; see also col. 249: hanc sculpturam Graeci usque ad hoc tempus contempserant.

63

Clari, eh. 106.

64

For a detailed discussion: Part II, west coast of Asia Minor, Troy.

65

Olschki, op. cit., pp. 123-31.

66

The beginning of the history of the Latin empire of Constantinople is excellently described by Ernst Gerland,

Geschichte des lateinischen Kaiserreiches von Konstantinopel~ I, Geschichte der Kaiser Balduin I. und Heinrich~ 1204- 1216~ Darmstadt 2 , 1966. The proposed second part never appeared because of the death of the author. Still valuable is W. Miller, The Latins in the Levant. A History of Frankish Greece (1204-1566)~ London, 1908 (with little annotation). Recently appeared, with a wealth of documentation the work by K.M. Setton, The Papacy and the Levant~ (1204-1571), 3 vols. Philadelphia, 1976. 67

The empire of Trebizond: W. Miller, Trehizond~

Greek Empire~ Amsterdam2 , 1968.

The last

68

Gerland, op. cit., pp. 25-6.

69

Gerland, op. cit., passim; Miller, op. cit., passim.

70

To celebrate this re-conquest of Constantinople new gold pieces were struck by Michael VIII; for this see my 'Een goudstuk van Michael VIII Palaeologus', De Geuzenpenning~ 23 (1973), pp. 7-8.

71

The Chronicle of Morea~ J. Schmitt, ~ed.), London, 1904, pp. lii-liii.

NOTES TO PP. 81 - 83

364

72

73

For Turkish conquests in the Archipelago in 1566: Fustel de Coulanges, 'Memoire sur l'ile de Chio', in: Questions historiques~ C. Jullian (ed.), Paris, 1893, pp. 341ff, especially pp. 363-4. For the conquest of Crete in 1669: R. Matton, La Crete siecles~ Athens, 1957, p. 168. An interesting, more or less contemporary account of the siege and capture of Candia is in: Olfert Dapper, Nauwkeurige be-

au cours des

schrijving der eilanden in de Archipel der Middellantsche Zee etc.~ Amsterdam, 1688, pp. 238-46. 74

Setton, p apacy~

75

Relatively speaking the Venetians were not so badly affected in 1182, in view of the fact that after the events of 1171 (confiscations etc.) they were not very numerous in Constantinople. It was particularly the Genoese and Pisans who were the chief object of popular rage. See Eustathius, Opuscula~ ed. Tafel, p. 275.

76

The reaction of Michael Choniates, metropolitan of Athens, is interesting, see Epistulae~ 100, pp. 29-31, S. Lampros (ed.), II, pp. 169-70.

I, pp. 5-6.

77

~ J. Ferluga, 'l'Aristocratie byzantine en Moro::e au temps de la conquete latine', Byzantinische Forschungen, 4 (1972), pp. 78ff.

78

Acropolites, Chron~ 16-7, ed. Bonn, pp. 31-3; Opera I, 28, ed. Heisenberg, Leipzig, 1903.

79

Miller, (note 66), p. 66 and p. 92.

80

Miller, op. cit., p. 121 and p. 148.

81

Some details about this can be found in Chronique de Moree (1204-1305)~ Livre de la conqueste de la princee de l'Amoree~ J. Longnon (ed.), Paris, 1911. The position of the Greek population during the rule of the Catalan company in Greece (1311-89) is given special attention by the Spanish scholar Antonio Rubi6 y Lluch. For his study of this period he was able to draw upon the archives ,of the Kings of Aragon, in Barcelona.

82

Greece: some assimilation undoubtedly took place, especially in later generations who had been born in that country. The best integration took place among the (high) nobility; in those circles, too, there was the highest

365

NOTES TO PP. 83 - 84

number of mixed marriages. William of Achaea was born on Greek soil and grew up as a Greek. Setton, Papacy~ I, p. 68; Miller, Latins~ p. 148. See also the chapter on language and linguistic problems. Palestine: one person in whom the assimilation of French and Eastern culture in crusaders in Palestine is clearly seen is William of Tyre, cf. R.H.C. Davis, 'William of Tyre', in: Relations between East and West in the Middle Ages~ D. Baker (ed.), Edinburg, 1973, pp. 64-76. 83

About the Latin States in Palestine there is an extensive literature. Very important is R. Grousset, Histoire des Croisades et du Royaume franc de Jerusalem~ Paris, 3 vols., 1935-6; also J.L. la Monte, Feudal Monarchy in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem~ 1100 to 1291, Cambriuge (Mass.), 1932 and the modern study by J. Prawer, The Latin King-

dom of

Jerusalem~

European Colonialism in the Middle

Ages~

London, 1972. A short summary of the importance of the crusaders' states for western Europa: J.L. La Monte, 'The Significance of the Crusaders' States in Medieval History', Byzantion~ 15 (1940-41), pp. 300-15. 84

K. Weitzmann, 'Icon painting in the Crusader Kingdom', 20 (1966), pp. 49-83,

DOP. 85

E. Kitzinger, 'The Byzantine Contribution to Western Art of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries', DOP. 20 (1966), pp. 25-48; K. Weitzmann, 'Zur byzantinischen Quelle des Wolffenblittler Musterbuches', Festschrift Hans R. Hahnloser~ Basel, 1961, pp. 223-30.

86

The chronicle of the Morea contains mainly political information. Apart from the works by Rubi6 y Lluch already mentioned I know of no other details about the country and people under Catalan domination in the 14th century (cf. note 81). In A. Bon, Za Moree franque;

Recherches historiques~ topographiques et archeologiques sur la principaute d'Achaie (1205-1430), Paris, 1969, the remains of classical antiquity are also barely mentioned. 87

For the archbishopric of Patras a number of details have been collected by Ernst Gerland in: Neue Quellen zur Geschichte des lateinischen Erzbistums Patras~ Leipzig, 1903.

NOTES TO PP. 84 - 87

366

It is certain that in the archives in Venice there is still much material about the economic situation in Latin Greece, waiting to be dealt with. The same is true of the Vatican archives concerned with religious life in those areas. 88

Riant,

89

Hefele-Leclerq, Histoire des conciZes~ V,2, Paris, 19041905, pp. 1381ff. canon 62.

9 0 ·

Very many of the treasures in the treasure chambers of S. Marco in Venice date from after the fire in 1231 in which a large number of valuables was lost. Cf. Riant (note 41), p. 52.

91

See Part II, southern Greece.

92

E.H. Swift, 'The Latins at Hagia Sophia', pp. 458-74.

93

Nicephorus Gregoras, IV, 6.

94

R. Rohricht-H. Meisner, Deutsche PiZgerreisen heiZigen Lande~ Berlin, 1880, pp. 3-4.

95

A.S. Atiya, The 1938, passim.

96

Directorium: editions: RHC.Arm. II, pp. 365-517 and C.R. Beazley, in: American Historical Review~ 12 (1906-~907), pp. 810-57 and 13 (1907-1908), pp. 66-115. About the date of the document the MSS do not agree; the Paris MS (B.N. MS. 5138 Lat.) gives the date as 1330, the one in Oxford (Magdalens College MS. No. 43), says 1332.

97

Beazley, op. cit., 12 (1906-1907), pp. 812-4: 'editum per quendam fratrem ordinis Praedicatorum, scribentem experta et visa potius quam audita' and 'in quo quidem directorio non tam aliorum relatione audita quam ea quae per XXIII! annos et amplius quibus fui in terris infidelium commoratus causa fidei praedicandae visa refero et experta'.

98

Ch. Kohler,

(note 41), pp. 1-81.

nach dem

Crusade in the Zater MiddZe Ages~ London,

'Quel est l'auteur du Directorium?', Revue 12 (1911), pp. 104-11. Atiya, op. cit., p. 97 still hesitated to regard the Brocardus-Adam identification as definite; but Golubovich, BibZioteca bio-bibZiografica~ III, pp. 404-5 rejects the identification.

de Z'Orient

99

AJA. 39 (1935),

Zatin~

Cf. A.D. von den Bricken,

Die 'Nationes christianorum

NOTES TO PP. 87 - 89

367

orientaZium' im Verstandnis der Zateinischen Historiographie~

Cologne-Vienna, 1973, p. 64.

100

Atiya, op. cit., pp. 65-7.

101

The stay in Pera: 'haec quae narro cum in Constantinopolim sive Pera quod idem est, degerem contigerunt', Beazley, op. cit., p. 80.

102

The route across the Adriatic Sea, the one across the Balkans and the one from Southern Italy; also a route along the coast of N. Africa and the crossing direct from Marseilles to Palestine.

103

Beazley, op. cit., pp. 84-7.

lOLf

idem, p. 856; see Part II, Constantinople, palaces.

1 05

idem, p. 88 (Thessalonica).

1 06

idem, p. 111 (Athens) and p. 114 (Ephesus).

107

D. Jacoby,

de

La feodaZite en Grece medievaZe~ Les 'Assises sources~ application et diffusion~ Paris-

Romanie'~

The Hague, 1971, pp. 271-3 and p. 347. The Duchy of the Archipelago was founded in 1207 by Marco I Sanudo; it remained independent until 1566. 1 08

Von den Bricken, (note 99), pp. 66-7; Atiya, (note 95), pp. 114-27. The Secreta fideZium crucis is also known as Condiciones Terrae Sanctae~ J. Bongars (ed.), Hanoviae, 1611.

109

It is not inconceivable that Boldensele studied at the University of Paris; his acquaintance with Aristotle, who was intensively studied there, may point in this direction.

11 0

The squadron was to have been composed of ships from Venice (10),Cyprus (6), Rhodes (10), and the Pope and France together (8); the Emperor of Constantinople was under pressure from the Venetians to provide six ships as well; if this did not happen Genoa and Pisa were counted on for their support; see Atiya, Crusade~ p. 112 and note 1.

111

Atiya, op. cit., pp. 112-3.

112

idem, p. 113.

113

A History of the Ottoman Empire to 1?30~ M.A. Cook (ed.), Cambridge, 1976, pp. 21-2.

NOTES TO PP. 90 - 91

368 114

Atiya, op. cit., pp. 379-80.

11 5

Setton, Papacy~ I. p. 298. For Amadeus' crusade see especially Atiya, op. cit., chapter XVI, pp. 379-90. Also J. Delaville le Roulx, La France en Orient au XIVe siecle~ Expeditions du marechal Boucicaut~ I, Paris, 1886' pp. 141ff.

11 6

P. Datta, Spediziorue in Oriente di Amadeo VI conte di Savoia negli anni 1366-136?~ Torino, 1826, p. 92; between July 27 and August 2 'visito il capo delle colonne'.

117

11 8

Amadeus found himself obliged to borrow large sums of money from the Latin merchants in Pera in order to finance the rest of the expedition. Cf. Atiya, op. cit., pp. 394-5. For the activities and the life of Mezieres: N. Jorga,

Philippe de Mezieres (132?-1405) et la Croisade au XIVe siecle~

119

12

Paris, 1896.

A.S. Atiya, The Crusade of Nicopolis~ London, 1934, p. 40; for the non-French participants, idem, pp. 43-9.

° For

the situation of the site of the battlefield: Atiya, pp. 152-4.

Nicopolis~ 121

Atiya, Nicopolis~ pp. 98-112; for the amount of ransom money collected by the Duke of Burgundy: idem, pp. 155-6.

122

See chapter on soldiers, prisoners of war.

123

For the activities of marshal Boucicaut: Setton, Papacy~ I, p. 371; Delaville le Roulx, op. cit., and Histoire

de messire Jean de Boucicaut~ mareschal de France~ gouverneur de Gennes~ in: Collections completes des memoires relatifs a l'histoire de France~ T. Godefroy (ed.), VI+ VII, Paris, 1825. Boucicaut's stay in Constantinople did not result in a description of any of the monuments seen in that city, but it did lead to a great deal of destruction round about~ 124

The voyage of Manuel: Setton, op. cit., p. 369. Also M. Jugie, 'le voyage de l'empereur Manuel Paleologue en accident (1399-1403)', Echos d'Orient~ 15 (1912), pp. 322-32.

125

Atiya, Crusade~ p. 189.

NOTES TO PP. 92 - 93

369

126

A parallel development in Byzantium is found in the fact that large sections of the population there would 'rather the Turks than the Pope'. Cf. G.T. Dennis, The Reign of Manuel II Palaeologus in Thessalonica~ 1382-138?~ Rome, 1960, p. 149 note 37; this attitude is expressed by Lucas Notaras, for instance, (c. 1450) who preferred to see the Turkish turban in the Byzantine capital to the latin mitre. Cf. Ducas, eh. 37, 10, ed. Bekker, p. 264.

127

For a picture of reactions in Europe to the events of 1453 (though outdated): G. Voigt, 'Die Eroberung von Constantinopel und der Abendland', Historische Zeitschrift~ 2 (1860), pp. 16-41. A modern study on this subject: A. Grunzweig, 'Philippe le Bon et Constantinople', Byzantion~ 24 (1954), pp. 47-61. That it was primarily a psychological blow which was of small relevance to the political situation: C. Mango, The Art of the Byzantine Empire~ 312-1453~ Englewood Cliffs, 1972, p. 243.

128

C. Marinesco, 'Philippe le Bon, due de Bourgogne, et la Croisade', Actes du VIe congres international d'etudes byzantines~ Paris, 1950, I, p. 149.

129

Oeuvres de Ghillebert de Lannoy~ voyageur~ diplomate et moraliste~

130

Ch. Potvin (ed.), Louvain, 1878.

Le voyage d'Outremer de Bertrandon de la Broquiere~ Ch. Schefer (ed.), Paris, l892.

131

De Lannoy, op. cit., p. 65.

132

In the text of the work there is no reference to the capture of 1453, but in the luxury copy in Paris (B.N. MS. Fr. 9087) which dates from 1456 and may be the official copy which was presented to Philip there is on f. 207v a drawing of the city during the siege, inspired by MS. Fr. 6487, f. 21, where we find a drawing and the eyewitness account of the Florentine Tedaldi. See M.-L. Concasty, 'Les 'informations' de Jacques Tedaldi sur le siege et la prise de Constantinople', Byzantion~ 24 (1954), p. 110 note 1.

133

Grunzweig, op. cit.

134 135

Bertrandon, (note 130), pp. 8-9. Troy is mentioned by name when there is a road junction, the left branch of which leads to that city, but the city was not visited; cf. Bertrandon, op. cit., pp. 129-30;

NOTES TO PP. 93 - 95

370

for the stay at Bursa, which includes a description of the slave market: idem, pp. 131-5. 1 36

Cf. for the mission of Benedetto Folco da Forli the edition of Schefer, p. 142 note 1.

137

Bertrandon refers to the custom of Greek men wearing high hats, a custom which had already struck Ibn Battuta as highly unusual. He also describes how he saw the empress from close to.

138

Bertrandon, op. cit., pp. 155-6; Schefer's op~n~on is that the interest in mystery plays at the Byzantine court was introduced by Anne of Savoy (who married Andronicus Ill Palaeologus in 1327) and her train of noblemen; see: Bertrandon, op. cit., p. 156 note 1. It is also possible, however, that a number ox west-European customs, such as that of holding tournaments etc., were introduced into Greece, after the fourth crusade; mystery plays may also have become known at that time, seeing that the earliest mystery plays go back to the lOth century. Cf. K. Young, The Drama in the Medieval Church~ I, Oxford, 1933, p. 15.

139

Bertrandon, op. cit., p. 152 note 1.

140

See Schiltberger, who fled from the Turks and had to hide in the city; see chapter on soldiers, prisoners of war.

141

Bertrandon, op. cit., p. 149: 'J'ay plus trouv~~ d'amitie aux Turcz et m'y fieroye plus que auxdits Grecz'.

142

idem, p. 149.

143

Oxford Classical Dictionary~

s.v. Polydorus. See also

Part II, Northern Greece. 144

Vergil, Aeneid, Ill, 22ff.

145

J.D. Hintzen, De Kruistochtplannen Goede~ Rotterdam, 1918, pp. 25ff.

146

For the books in Philip's library: Hintzen, op. cit., pp. 133-8.

147

Marinesco, (note 128), pp. 154ff.

148

The battle of the Hungarians against the Turks at Varna is sometimes regarded as a sort of crusade, but in fact it was merely a Hungarian-Turkish boundary war. See Atiya (note 95), p. 467.

van Philips den

NOTES TO PP. 95 - 97

371

149 For the battle of Varna:

F. Babinger, 'Von Amurath zu zu Amurath, Vor- und Nachspiel der Schlacht bei Varna (1444)', Oriens 3 3 (1950), pp. 229-65.

1 50

Recueil des croniques et anciennes istories de la grant Bretaigne~ a present nomme Engleterre~ par Jehan de Waurin~ W. Hardy and E.L. Hardy (eds.), V, London, 1891. Also A. Huguet, 'Un chevalier picard a la Croisade de Constantinople, 1444-1445. Gauvin Quieret, Seigneur de Dreuil', Bulletin de la Societe des Antiquaires de Picardie~ 38 (1939-1940), pp. 35ff.

1 51

Huguet, op. cit., pp. 39-40 and the map on page 40. Huguet wrongly situates Troy near Bounarbashi and not at Hissarlik. See also Part II, west coast of Asia Minor, Troy.

152

Wavrin, op. cit., p. 38.

153

Marinesco, (note 128), p. 160.

154

Wavrin, op. cit., p. 64; Mangalia is the former Callatis. Chapter III For legations in the early middle ages: A. Molinier and C. Kohler (eds.), Itinera Hierosolymitana~ II, 1, 30-600 A.D., Geneva, 1885, passim. For the various attempts in the 9th and lOth centuries to bring about marriages between Byzantine and ~estern princes and princesses: R. Jenkins, Byzantium~ the Imperial Centuries~ A.D. 61010?1~ London, 1966, p. 324.

2

For the journey of Liutefredus from Mainz: E. Sabbe, 'Quelques types de marchands des IXe et Xe siecles', Revue Belge de Philologie et d'histoire~ 13 (1934), p. 180. Also Liudprand, Antapodosis~ 1, VI, eh. 4, p. 155 (ed. G. Pertz), Hannover, 1839. Sabbe's assumption (loc. cit., note 2) that Liutefredus was sent because he knew the way does not seem to me to be correct, in view of the fact that the merchant from Mainz was in the company of a Greek envoy who was returning to Constantinople. Liudprand probably joined their company (1. VI, eh. 5).

3

Liudprand, Antapodosis~ 1. III, eh. 22-3 and 1. V, eh. 14.

4

For the background to the busy diplomatic traffic with Constantinople in 949: R. Jenkins, op. cit., pp. 262ff.

372

NOTES TO PP. 97 - 98

5

For the situation in 969 and the less friendly reception: Jenkins, op. cit., pp. 285ff.

6

The evidence about Liudprand's third journey dates from a later period (in the Translatio Sancti Hymerii) and is not entirely reliable; see Die Geschichtsschreiber der Deutschen Vorzeit~ W. Wattenbach (ed.), XXXVII-XXXVIII: Zehntes Jahrhundert; Teil 2: Aus Liudprands Werken~ Leipzig, n.d., introduction, pp. XVII-XVIII. The result of the possible third journey of Liudprand was that Princess Theophano came to the West as the bride of Otto II. She was not, in fact, a real porphyrogenita, as her father had usurped the throne, after her birth.

7

For the Byzantium - Rome opposition, and the non-recognition of the western emperor by the basileus: F. Dolger, 'Rom in der Gedankenwelt der Byzantiner', in: Byzanz und die europaische Staatenhlelt~ Ettal, 1953, pp. 70-115.

8

All these marvels were imitations of things found in the Abbasid palaces of Bagdad. This probably all dated from the time of the reign of Emperor Theophilus (829-842) who was very interested in foreign cultures: see: Jenkins, op. cit., p. 148.

9

'Histoire du patriarche Mar Jabalaha III et du moine Rabban 9auma', J.-B. Chabot (ed.), Revue de l'Orient latin~ 1 (1893), pp. 567-610 and 2 (1894), pp. 73-142 and pp. 235-304. The English edition: J.A. Montgomery,

The History of Yaballaha III~ Nestorian Patriarch and of his Vicar Bar Sauma Mongol Ambassador to the Frank~sh Courts at the End of the Thirteenth Century~ New York , 1966,contains only the first half of the work (up to about 1295) . 10

The purpose of the journey was to bring about a union between Christian western Europe and the Mongols. Cf. J. Richard, 'La mission en Europe de Rabban 9auma et l'union des eglises', in: Orient et Occident au Moyen-Age: contacts et relations (XIIe- XVe siecles)~ London2 , 1976, eh. 22, pp. 162ff.

11

The passage about Constantinople: Chabot, op. cit., pp. 82-7, Montgomery, op. cit., pp. 52-4.

12

Oeuvres de Ghillebert de Lannoy~ voyageur~ diplomate et moraliste~

Ch. Potvin (ed.), Louvain, 1878, passim.

NOTES TO PP. 99 - 102

373

13 Potvin,

op. cit., p. 65. De Lannoy does include in his work a short description of the strategically important place Gallipoli, pp. 160-1.

14

Nothing more is known about Clavijo than the little he himself tells us in his work. See: Narrative of the

Embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the Court of Timour at Samarcand: A.D. 1403-6~ C.R. Markham (ed.), London, 1859, pp. I-IX. Also Clavijo, Embassy to Tamerlane~

G. le Strange (ed.), London, 1928, Introduction.

15

See Part I!, Constantinople, churches and monasteries.

16

For the manuscripts and printed editions: Markham, op. cit., pp. VII-VIII. The first printed edition appeared in Sevilla in 1582, prepared by Argote de Molina, a second edition in Madrid in 1782 by Antonio de Sancha.

17

As an example of such a legation: the journey of Giovanni de Marignolli, papal envoy to China, who on his way there held a disputatio with the Greek Orthodox in Constantinople in J.339. See G. Golubovich, Biblioteca~ IV, Quaracchi, 1923, p. 272.

18

The Dominican friars Hugo and Peter, and the Franciscan friars Aymo and Rodulphus, Golubovich. op. ctt., I, pp. 163-4.

1 9.

Golubovich, op. cit., I, p. 164. See also Part !I, west coast of Asia Minor.

20

2~

For the complications surrounding Metropolitan Pimen: A.M. Ammann, Abriss der ostslawischen Kirchengeschichte~ Vienna, J.950, pp. 100-5. Ignatius went with them as a subordinate of Bishop Michael of Smolensk.

22

Ammann, op. cit., p. 105.

23

Itineraires russes en Orient~ B. de Khitrowo (ed.), Geneva, 1889, pp. J.40-7.

24 25

26

For the MSS: De Khitrowo, op. cit., p. J.28. De Khitrowo, op. cit., p. 230; C. Mango, 'The Date of the Anonymous Russian Description of Constantinople', BZ. 45 (1952), pp. 380-5. De Khitrowo, op. cit., pp. 232 and 239. C. Mango, 'A Russian Graffito in St. Sophia, Constanti-

NOTES TO PP. 105 - 106

374

nople', Slavic Word~ 10 (1954), pp. 436-8 attributes an inscription in the south gallery of the Hagia Sophia to a servant in the household of Cyprianus in 1389. Chapter IV 1

2

w. Heyd, Histoire du commerce du Levant au Moyen-Age~ Leipzig, 1885-1886. This French edition, translated by Furcy-Raynaud, is based on a version, extended by the author himself, of his German edition published a few years earlier. Mediterranean~ Princeton, 1951; R.S. Lopez, 'Le probleme des relations anglo-byzantines du septieme au dixieme siecle', Byzantion~ 18 (1948), pp. 139-62; E.H. Byrne,

A.R. Lewis,

A.D.

Naval Power and Trade in the

500-1100~

Genoese Shipping in the twelfth and thirteenth

Centuries~

Cambridge (Mass.), 1930. Also R.S. Lopez and I.W. Raymond, Medieval Trade in the Mediterranean World~ New York, 1955. 3

Cf. R.S. Lopez, 'Silk Industry in the Byzantine Empire', 20 (1945), pp. 1-42.

Speculum~

4

Lewis, op. cit., pp. 120-1; Lopez, Silk Industry, p. 37, note 4. Also C.M. Macri, Des byzantins et des etrangers dans Constantinople au Moyen-Age~ Paris, 1928, passim, in which special attention is paid to the legal status of the foreigners. Short summary in K. Roth, 'Byzanz und seine Handelsverbindungen mit den Okzident und Orient, Beitrage zur Kenntnis des Orients~ 7 (1909), pp. 1-17.

5

Lewis, op. cit., p. 255.

6

Lopez,

7

idem, pp. 35-6; see also: H.F. Brown, 'The Venetians and the Venetian Quarter in Constantinople to the Close of the Twelfth Century', JHS. 40 (1920), pp. 68-9; and H. Antoniadis-Bibicou, 'Note sur les relations de Byzance avec Venise. De la dependance a l'autonomie et a l'alliance: un point de vue byzantin', Thesaurismata~ 1 (1962), pp. 162ff.

8

Brown, op. cit., pp. 69-70. Byzantium is still clearly the stronger party, which accords certain rights to Venice in a praeceptum.

Silk Industry~ p. 38.

NOTES TO PP. 106 - 108

9

Brown, op. cit., pp. 70-1; P. Reve11i, di Levante~ Milano, 1917, p. 44.

375

l'Italia e il Mar

10

Brown, op. cit., pp. 75ff; Revelli, op. cit., pp. 66-8; L. Halphen 'Le role des 'Latins' dans l'histoire interieure de Constantinople a la fin du XIIe siecle', Melanges Charles Diehl~ I, Paris, 1930, pp. 141-2.

11

Halphen, op. cit., pp. 142-3; many details about the position of the Latins can be found in the history by Nicetas Choniates; Eustathius mentions the number of Latins in Constantinople (60,000 in about 1180); for the bloodbath carried out among them: Eustathius, Opuscula~ ed. Tafel, p. 275.

12

Brown, op. cit., p. 87.

13

Cf. Ch. Diehl, 'La colonie venitienne a Constantinople a la fin du XIVe siecle', in: Etudes byzantines~ Paris, 1905, pp. 241-75.

14

Genoese trade was originally directed more towards the Syro-Palestinian coast. cf. E.H. Byrne, 'Genoese Trade with Syria in the Twelfth Century', American Historical Review~ 25 (1920), pp. 191ff.

15

Lopez, Silk Industry~ p. 25 and p. 37; Revelli, op. cit., pp. 79-83.

16

For the position of Kaffa on the Crimea: N. Jorga, Points de vue sur l'histoire du commerce de l'Orient au MoyenAge~

Paris, 1924, pp. 90-3; Revelli, op. cit., pp. 84-6.

17

Revelli, op. cit., p. 83.

18

C. Marinesco, 'Les Catalans dans l'empire byzantin pendant le regne de Jacques II (1291-1327)', in: Melanges d'histoire du Moyen-Age offerts M. Ferdinand Lot~ Paris, 1925, pp. 501ff.

a

19

H.R. Ellis Davidson, The Viking Road to Byzantium~ London, 1976, pp. 89-96. Also, Lopez, Silk Industry~ p. 25 and note 2.

20

Old edition: L. Leger, Chronique dite de Nestor~ Paris, 1884; a newer edition: S.H. Cross - O.P. SherbowitzWetzor, The Russian Primary Chronicle~ Laurentian Text~ Cambridge (Mass.), 1953.

21

G. Hatz,

Handel und Verkehr zwischen dem deutschen Reich

NOTES TO PP. 108 - 111

376

Wikingerzeit~ Lund, 1974, pp. 18ff. with the notes 88-93; M.J. de Goeje, 'Internationaal handelsverkeer in de Middeleeuwen', Verslagen

und Schweden in der spaten

en Mededeelingen der koninklijke Akademie van Wetenscha:ppen (afd. Letterkunde)~ 4e Serie, 9 (1909), pp. 255-7. 22

A. Ducellier, 'Mentalite historique et realites politiques: !'Islam et les Musulmans vus par les Byzantins du XIIIeme siecle', Byzantinische Forschungen~ 4 (1972), pp. 44ff.

23

idem, pp. 53-4; Nicetas Choniates, Historia~ ed. Bonn, p. 731.

24

A. Struck, 'Die Eroberung Thessalonikes durch die Sarazenen im Jahre 904', BZ. 14 (1905), p. 540 and note 1.

25 26 27

A. Bon,

Le Peloponnese byzantin~ Paris, 1951, p. 85.

See chapter on language and linguistic problems.

The Book of Ser Marco Polo the Venetian concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East~ H. Yule (ed.), London 3 , 1903, pp. 2-3.

28

See chapter on language and linguistic problems.

29

E. Burnouf, La ville et l'Acropole epoques~ Paris, 1877, pp. 58-61.

30

E. Gerland,

Erzbistums

d'Athenes aux diverses

Neue Quellen zur Geschichte des lateinischen Patras~

Leipzig, 1903, pp. 28-9.

31

W. Heyd (note 1), II, p. 271.

32

W. Miller, pp. 270-1.

33

J. Lestocquoy, 'Le commerce des oeuvres d'art au MoyenAge', Annales d'histoire sociale~ 5 (1943), pp. 19-26.

34

R. Brun, 'Notes sur le commerce des objets d'art en France et principalement a Avignon a la fin du XIVe siecle', Bibliotheque de l'ecole des Chartes~ 95 (1934), pp. 327ff.

35

Lopez-Raymond, (note 2), pp. 114-5: letter from Avignon, dated March 27 1387.

36

Cf. Sozomenus~ VII,1.

The Latins in the Levant~ London, 1908,

NOTES TO PP. 111 - 113

377

37

F.W. Deichmann, 'Die Spolien in der spatantiken Architektur', Bayr.. Akad. von Wissenschaften~ phil.-hist. Klasse~ Sitzungsberichte 1975~ Heft 6, Mlinchen, 1975.

38

P.P.V. van Moorsel and J.P.A. van der Vin, 'Einige Bemerkungen zu den Kapitellen von Kairouan', Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana~ 49 (1973), pp. 361ff.

39

SeeP. Verzone, 'I due gruppi in porfido di S. Marco in Venezia ed il Philadelphion di Constantinopoli', Palladio~ 1 (1958), pp. 8-14; also R. Naumann, 'Der antike Rundbau beim Myrelaion und der Palast Romanos I. Lekapenos', Istanbuler Mitteilungen~ 16 (1966), pp. 209-11. Recently the missing feet of one of the porphyry images of the Tetrarchs in Venice was found in Constantinople.

40

R. Rohricht and M. Meisner, Deutsche Pilgerreisen nach Lande~ Berlin, 1880, p. 31. Ludolf von Sudheim, chapter 80.

dem heiligen 41

Das Nachleben der Antike im Mittelalter~ Reden und Studien~ I, Strassburg, 1905,

L. Friedlander, Erinnerungen~

pp. 369-70. Cf. also the medieval lapidaries, in which all sorts of stories are told about gems and cameos. Important in this connection is: W.S. Heckscher, 'Relics of Pagan Antiquity in Mediaeval Settings', Journal of the Warburg Institute~ 1 (1937/38), pp. 213ff. 42

43

Heckscher, op. cit., pp. 215-9; Friedlander, op. cit., p. 371.

Le collezioni veneziane d'arte e d'antichita del secolo XIV ai nostri giorni~ Venice, 1900, pp. XXX-

C.A. Levi, XXXIX.

Chapter V 1

Vikings in the bodyguard after 911; cf. R. Jenkins, the Imperial Centuries~ A.D. 610-1071~ London, 1966, p. 302. For the composition of the' Byzantine army, with mercenaries of many nationalities: G. Schlumberger, 'Deux chefs normands des armees byzantines au XIe siecle', Revue historique~ 16 (May-August 1881), pp. 289-90. Also R. Janin, 'Les Francs au service des 'Byzantins', Echo's d'Orient~ 29 (1930), pp. 61ff. Byzantium~

378

NOTES TO PP. 113 - 114

Liudprand of Cremona (legatio, eh. 45) mentions various Venetians and Amalfitans in the imperial bodyguard and among the other troops. 2

S. Blondal, 'The last Exploits of Harald Sigurdsson in Greek Service', CZassica et medievaZia~ 2 (1939), pp. 1ff. About Harald: G. Vigfusson and F. York Powell, Corpus

poeticum boreaZe. The Poetry of the OZd Northern

Tongue~

I, Oxford, 1883, p. 178 and p. 215. 3

Blondal, op. cit., pp. 5-6.

4

For the lion of Piraeus: G.F. Hertzberg, Geschichte GriechenZands~ Gotha, 1876, p. 307. The runic inscription is discussed by H.R. Ellis Davidson, The Viking Road to Byzantium~ London, 1976, p. 220 where further literature is also mentioned. Doubt as to the runic nature of the letters in: L. de Laborde, 'Les inscriptions gravees sur les deux flancs du lion du Piree sont-elles grecques ou runiques?', in: Documents inedits ou peu connus sur Z'histoire et Zes antiquites d'Athenes~ Paris, 1854, pp. 206ff.

5

Davidson, op. cit., p. 220.

6

idem, p. 239.

7

idem, p. 220.

8

For the change-over from Scandinavians to Anglo-Saxons in the Varangian guard: S. Blondal, 'Nabites the Warangian', CZassica et medievaZia~ 2 (1939), pp. 145ff. Also K.N. Ciggaar, Byzance et Z'AngZeterre~ Leiden, 1976, pp. 66-7 (data based on passages in the Chronicon Laudunense, L. 104-7 and L. 165-73); also Ciggaar, pp. 39-40; A.A. Vasiliev, 'The Opening Stages of the Anglo-Saxon Immigration to Byzantium in the Eleventh Century', Seminarium Kondakovianum~ 9 (1937), pp. 39ff.

9

Blondal, Nabites~ p. 163.

10

Ex historia Sigurdi Hierosolymipetae. See Antiquites russes d'apres Zes monuments historiques des isZandais et des anciens scandinaves~ C. Rafn (ed.), I, Copenhagen, 1850, p. 381. The Heimskringla (i.e. the round world) is a collection of 16 sagas by the famous Icelandic saga poet Snorri Sturluson; the saga about Sigurd's pilgrimage to Jerusalem is one of these.

379

NOTES TO PP. 1l5 - 116

11

Abbot Nicolas of Thingor; see E. Werlauff,

geographiam medii aevi ex monumentis

Symbolae ad

islandicis~ Hauniae,

1821, pp. 3ff.

of the Time of the Crusades~

12

J.K. Wright, Geographical Lore New York, 1925, pp. 110-1.

13

For Sigurd's journey (1107-11): Th. Wright, Early Travels in Palestine~ New York 2 , 1968, pp. 50-65. Also R.M. Dawkins, 'The Visit of King Sigurd the Pilgrim to Constantinople', Eis mnemen S. Lamprou~ Athens, 1935, pp. 55-62.

14

Blondal, Last Exploits (note 2), p. 11 note 1 gives an etymological explanation for the word Gullvarta. He regards the second part of the compound as a Norwegian corruption of the Russian vorota.

15

Dawkins, op. cit., pp. 57-8.

15

The Great palace next to the Hippodrome must have been abandoned as a residence at the end of the eleventh century; from then on the emperors resided in the Blachernae palace. Cf. Ciggaar, op. cit., p. 66 and the notes 272-3. For more details see: Part II, Ch. XVII, Constantinople, palaces.

17

In Constantinople Sigurd behaves to the emperor as a real 'heros' such as are found in folk-tales. It is worth mentioning that some years before Sigurd's visit to Constantinople King Erik of Denmark, perhaps because of reduced financial circumstances actually did accept the gift of money! We are not told, however, whether he was also allowed to choose! See Dawkins, op. cit., p. 58. Cf. Vigfusson-York Powell (note 2) for Erik's journey (1095-1103) which ended with his death in Cyprus in 1103.

18

See: The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer~ W. Skeat (ed.), IV, London 2 , 1900, Canterbury Tales~ pp. 2-3, lines 43-78. All the places listed by Chaucer's Knight formed part of the theatre of war around the year 1350; many of them were the scene of battles between Christians and nonChristians. The study by A.S. Cook, 'The Historical Background of Chaucer's Knight', Transactions of the Connecticut Academy~ 20 (1916) was unfortunately not available to me.

NOTES TO PP. 116 - 118

380

19

20

For the Catalan Company: D. Jacoby, 'La 'Compagnie catalane' et l'Etat catalan de Grece; quelques aspects de leur histoire', Journal des Savants~ 1966, pp. 78ff. Also K.M. Setton, The Catalan Domination of Athens~ Cambridge (Mass.), 1948; W. Heyd, Histoire du commerce du Levant au Moyen-Age~ I, Leipzig 1885, pp. 450-3. Jacoby, op. cit., p. 102.

21

Setton, op. cit., pp. 247-8. In speaking of his outward journey to the Holy Land in 1394 Niccolo da Martoni expres-ses his great fear for Catalan pirates, who made the sea in the vicinity of Malta extremely unsafe. These were the Catalans who had been driven out of Athens in 1387, and who wandered about the Mediterranean, robbing and plundering as they went. See L. le Grand, 'Relation du Pelerinage a Jerusalem de Nicolas de Martoni, notaire italien (1394-1395) ', Revue de l'Orient latin~ 3 (1895), p. 579.

22

See especially: A. Rubi6 y Lluch, notaires dans la Grece catalane', Athens, 1935, pp. 150ff.

'Chanceliers et

Eis mnemen S.

Lamprou~

23

A few biographical details about Muntaner can be found in the introduction to the edition of A. Goodenough, The Chronicle of MUntaner~ London, 1920-1, pp. LXXXIff.

24

Since 1150 Catalonia and Aragon had been united as a result of the marriage of Queen Petronilla of Aragon to Count Ramon Berenguer of Barcelona.

25

See A. Rubi6 y Lluch, pp. 23-4.

Paquimeres i Muntaner~ Barcelona,

~927,

26

Much attention was given to an annual 'manna miracle' in the basilica at Ephesus (c.206); three relics are also described in detail (c.234), which fell into Catalan hands during the looting of Foggia (Fogliara). These relics were supposed to have belonged originally to St. John the Evangelist.

27

For Alfonso Fadrique: Jacoby (note 19), pp. 98-9.

28

For the fortunes of the Catalans in Greece in the 14th century: Setton (note 19), especially pp. 216ff, with an extensive bibliography in the last chapter.

29

A. Rubi6 y Lluch,

Documents per l'historia de la cultura

NOTES TO PP. 118 - 119

381

catalana

mig-eval~ II, Barcelona, 1921, p. XVI. This letter is dated on April 20, 1387 and is in the archive of the Crown of Aragon, reg. 1751, fol. 51v.

30

Rubi6 y Lluch, op. cit., p. XXXVI and Setton (note 19), pp. 119-20.

31

Rubi6 y Ll.uch, op. ci t. , p. XLI.

32

Rubi6 y Lluch, idem, I, Barcelona, 1908, pp. 286-7. no. CCCXI. This letter is dated at Lerida on September 11, 1380 and is in the archive of the Crown of Aragon, reg. 1268, fol. 126. A reproduction of this letter in Setton, (note 19), plate VI, p. 187. The subject of this letter was the reinforcement of the garrison of the Acropolis with 12 (~) archers.

33

An important study is Rubi6 y Lluch's 'Significaci6 de l'elogi de !'Acropolis d'Atenes pel rei Pere 'L Ceremonios', in: Homenaje ofrecido a Menendes Pidal~ Madrid, 1925, pp. 37-56.

34

Setton, op. cit., p. 187 following Rubi6 y Lluch, believes that Pedro had heard of the beauty of Athens and the Acropolis from the Bishop of Megara, John Boyl. But that the information may have come from Juan Fernandez de Heredia cannot be ruled out.

35

R.-J. Loenertz, O.P., 'Hospitaliers et Navarrais en Grece, 1376-1383. Regestes et Documents', Orientalia Christiana Periodica~ 22 (1956), pp. 319ff.

36

Harun-ibn-Yahya's stay in Constantinople cannot be dated exactly. The date suggested by Vasiliev, Izeddin and others as toward the end of the 9th century but in any case later than 881 is no longer accepted. Cf. A. Vasiliev, 'Harunibn-Yahya and his Description of Constantinople', Seminarium Kondakovianum~ 5 (1932), pp. 149-63; M. Izeddin, 'Un prisonnier arabe a Byzance au IXe siecle; Harun-ibnYahya', Revue des etudes islamiques~ 1941-1948, pp. 41ff.; J. Marquart, Osteuropaische und ostasiatische Streifzuge~ Leipzig, 1903, chapter 8: Der Reisebericht des Harun b. Jahja, (=pp. 206ff.). A new dating is suggested by R.J. Jenkins, 'The Emperor Alexander and the Saracene Prisoners', Atti del VIIIo Congresso internazionale di studi bizantini~ I, Palermo, 1951, pp. 389-93: between Christmas 911 and Ash Wednesday 912. G. Ostrogorsky, 'Zum Reisebericht des Harun-ibn-

NOTES TO PP. 119 - 121

382

Jahja', Seminarium Kondakovianum~ 5 (1932), pp. 251ff. puts the journey one year later, between Christmas 912 and Ash Wednesday 913. Jenkins' date (911-12) appears to me to be preferable. (See also note 42.) 37

Izeddin, op. cit., pp. 42-3.

38

Marquart, op. cit., p. 207 points out that nowhere in the work a specifically pro-Islam point of view is expressed.

39

Izeddin, op. cit., p. 42 and note 2; the Arabic text of Ibn Rosteh is published by M.J. de Goeje, in volume VII of the Bihliotheca geographorum arabicorum~ The Hague, 1893, pp. 119ff.

40

Izeddin, op. cit., p. 50 note 2; different researchers have proposed four different churches: the church of St. Sergius and St. Bacchus (Marquart, op. cit., p. 228), the New Church (Vasiliev, op. cit., p. 156 note 41), the palace chapel of St. Mary of the Pharos (A.M. Schneider in Istanbuler Forschungen, 8 (1936), pp. 28-9) and finally the church of St. Stephan in Daphne (Izeddin, op. cit., p. 50 note 2).

41

Izeddin, op. cit., p. 53 note 2; Marquart, op. cit., pp. 228ff.

42

Jenkins, (note 36), p. 393 believes that the man HarOn saw, with one red shoe and one black one, was the heir to the throne, Alexander, and that Emperor Leo VI was probably already prevented by illness from taking part in the procession. Leo died on May 11, 912 after being ill for 4 months.

43

Izeddin (note 36), p. 59 note 1.

44

idem, p. 60 note 1.

45

Marquart, (note 36) p. 236 and Vasiliev (note 36), p. 161 note 62 identify the object described here as the serpentine column; but I agree with Izeddin (note 36), p. 60 note 2. See also Part II, Ch. XVII, Constantinople, Hippodrome.

46

Biographical information about Johann Schiltberger in: Reisebuch~ V. Langmantel (ed.), Tlibingen, 1885, pp. 160-3 and also in the introduction to the edition of J. Buchan Telfer, The Bondage and

Hans Schilthergers Travels of Johann London, 1879.

SchiZtberger~

a Native of

Bavaria~

NOTES TO PP. 121 - 126

383

47 Schiltberger,

chapter 2: Wann man nymandts totet unter XX jaren; do was ich kaum XVI jar alt.

48

Buchan Telfer, op. cit., p. XIX.

49

For similar instances of gold plates being built in (confessions of faith, etc.):J. Ebersolt, Constantinople byzantin et Zes voyageurs du Levant~ Paris, 1918, p. 72 and note 1.

50

There seems to me to be little foundation for Bruun's argument that Schiltberger put in at the city during a voyage to Egypt on a Venetian ship after 1423, cf. Buchan Telfer, op. cit., pp. 145-6 (with note 2). Chapter VI

1

E.A.R. Brown, 'The Cistercians in the Latin Empire of Constantinople and Greece: 1204-1276', Traditio~ 14 (1958), pp. 63ff.

2

B. Altaner, Die Dominikanermissionen des 13. Jahrhunderts~ Habelschwerdt, 1924, pp. 1ff. and M. Bihl, 'Die Franziskaner-Miss~onen im Morgenlande wahrend des 13. Jahrhunderts', Der KathoZik~ 35 (1907), pp. 365-6.

3

Altaner, op. cit., pp. 9-10. Conversions of Latin Christians to the Orthodox Church also occurred occasionally, but were strongly condemned by the ecclesiastical authorities. See 0. Raynaldus, AnnaZes eccZesiastici~ ad annum 1322~ No. 48 with a warning by Pope John XXII to the Archbishop of Patras and the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople to resist strongly any changeover from the Latin to the Greek rite.

4

5

6

At the first great Chapter in 1217 Greece was included in the provincia Syria; in 1263 it was separated from that province, and made into an independent unit with the name of provincia Romaniae or Graeciae. See G. Golubovich, BibZioteca~ I, Quaracchi, 1906, p. 261 and p. 265, and idem II, pp. 221. The number of Dominican monasteries in Greece varied somewhat. In 1277 there were seven of them, in 1303 only five; see Altaner, op. cit., pp. 10-2. In 1262 Pope Urban IV wrote a letter in which he preached a sort of Crusade against Michael VIII: 'Qui ... contra populum Latinorum qui in illis partibus commoratur, coegit

NOTES TO PP. 126 - 130

384

sui furoris tirampnidem exercere inhumanitus'; cf. Golubovich, op. cit., I, p. 395. 7

Golubovich, op. cit., III, pp. 111-7.

8

In 1299 the Dominicans were again living in C~nstantinople. Altaner, op. cit., p. 12.

9

R. Loenertz, 'Les etablissements dominicains de PeraConstantinople', Echos d'Orient~ 34 (1933), pp. 334-5; also Golubovich, op. cit., I, pp. 552-3.

10

Les freres mineurs et l'eglise orthodoxe au XIIIe siecle (1231-12?4)~ Cairo, 1954, pp. 90-1.

M. Roncaglia,

11

Golubovich, op. cit., I, p. 265.

12

idem, pp. 163-4.

13

idem, p. 425; an important part in the negotiations was played by the Franciscan John Parastron, who spoke fluently Greek because he had been born in Constantinople.

14

Important here is William of Moerbeke, who, after a long stay in Greece acted as Greek language advisor to Thomas Aquinas. Chapter VII

1

For the Greek geographers: H.J. Rose,

Literature~ London4 , 1956, pp. 282-5. 2

A Handbook of Greek

J. K. Wright, Geographical Lore of the Time of the New York, 1925, p. 44. During the so-called Renaissance of the Palaeologians, there were also some geographical developments, especially in the work of Maximus Planudes, see A. Diller, 'The Oldest Manuscripts of Ptolemaic 1\laps', Transactions of the American Philological Association~ 71 (1940), pp. 62ff. Also H. Hunger, Von Wissenschaft und Kunst der fruhen Palaiologenzeit, Crusades~

Jahrbuch der osterreichischen byzantinischen

Gesellschaft~

8 (1959), pp. 147ff. 3

M. V. Minorsky, 'Geographes et voyageurs musulmans ',

Bulletin de la Societe royale de Geographie

d'Egypte~

24 [1949], pp. 31-2. 4 Wright, 5

op. cit., p. 117.

A.-D. von den Brincken, "Europa in der Kartographie des Mittelalters", Archiv fur Kulturgeschichte~ 55 (1973),

385

NOTES TO PP. 130 - 133

Ages~ London,

6

G.H.T. Kimble, Geography 1938, pp. 5-23.

7

Wright, op. cit., pp. 248-52.

8

K. Miller, Die altesten Weltkarten~ Ill, Stuttgart, 1895, pp. 73-82; R. Vaughan, Matthew Paris~ Cambridge, 1958, pp. 247-50 and plates 12-13-15.

9

Ezekiel V,5, 'This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her'.

in the Middle

10

Von den Brincken, op. cit., p. 294.

11

A.-D. von den Brincken, 'Mappa mundi und Chronographia. Studien zur Imago mundi des abendlandischen Mittelalters', Deutsches Archiv fUr Erforschung des Mittelalters~ 24 (1968), p. 143.

12

idem, p. 171.

13

See Von den Brincken, Mappa mundi~ tables. In the tables data from some twenty geographical documents from the middle ages has been collected. For Greece, tables Ill, IV and VI are important.

14

Table Ill, p. 163.

15

This sudden disappearance suggests that it was intentional. A reason for this deliberate omission is, however, difficult to find. Cf. Von den Brincken, Mappa mundi~ p. 170.

16

Table IV, p. 164.

17

Table VI, p. 166.

18

Von den Brincken,

19

Von

2

° Cf.

Mappa mundi~ p. 171. den Brincken, Europa (note 5), pp. 296-300. F. Nansen, In Northern Mists~ II, London, 1911,

pp. 182-3. 21

R. Almagia, Planisfere~ carte nautiche e affini XVII~ Citta del Vaticano, 1944, p. VII.

dal secolo

XIV al 22 23

Nansen, op. cit., pp. 215-7. In 1354 the king of Aragon decreed that every sea captain was to have two sea charts on his ship. Cf. Ordenanzas de

386

NOTES TO PP. 133 - 134

las armadas navales de la corona de Aragon> aprobadas por el rey D. Pedro IV> anode 1354> Appendix, No. 1, p. 2. 24

Libro d'Oltramare di Fra Niccolo da Poggibonsi> A. Bacchi della Lega (ed.), Bologna2 , 1968, vol. II, p. 219.

25

A.-D. v. den Brincken, ' ... ut describeretur universus orbis', zur Universalkartographie des Mittelalters', Miscellanea medievalia> 7 (1970), pp. 263-4.

26

See J. Lelewel, Geographie du Moyen-Age> II, Brussels, 1852, pp. 123-4; E. Jacobs, 'Neues von Cristoforo Buondelmonti', Jdi.> 20 (1905), p. 44. For Jacopo Angeli: R. Weiss, 'Jacopo Angeli da Scarperia', Medioevo e Rinascimento. Studi in onore di Bruno Nardi> II, Firenze, 1955, pp. 811 (+note 50), 812 and 824.

27

Travel and Travellers of the Middle Ages> A.P. Newton (ed.), New York, 1926, pp. 4-5.

28

E. Legrand, Description des iles de l 'Archipel par Christophe Buondelmonti> Paris, 1897, pp. XXI-XXII (further refered to as: Descriptio, L.). Also R. Almagia, Planisfere> carte nautiche e affini dal secolo XIV al XVII> Citta del Vaticano, 1944, p. 105. It is striking how little known Buondelmonti is in modern geographical literature. He is not mentioned in Kimble's Geography of the Middle Ages (see note 6); in Bagrow, Geschichte der Kartographie> Berlin, 1951, p. 49 only a few lines are devoted to him, and even those are not correct.

29

E. Jacobs, 'Cristofo Buondelmonti. Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis seines Lebens und seiner Schriften', Beitrage zur

Bucherkunde und Philologie August Wilmanns zum 25. Marz 1903 gewidmet> Leipzig, 1903, pp. 313ff. In the Catalogus scriptorum Florentinorum by Poccianti (1589) the following is said about Buondelmonti: 'Cristophorus de Bondelmontibus vir scientiae cosmographiae et geographiae, immo omnium humanarum literarum studiis refertissimus, sermone apertus, ingenio clarus ac triplici lingua decoratus. Composuit p~ura opuscula, inter quae ad manum venit liber quidam geographiae, cuius praefatio sic exordium sumit: Constitui R. pater. Commoratur autem huiusmodi codex manuscriptus apud Laurentium de Bondelmontibus. Enituit 1410'.

NOTES TO P.

~34

387

30

'Vhen he leaves for Rhodes we find 'iam exacta aetate' which indicates the age of about 30. Cf. R. Weiss, 'Un umanista antiquario: Cristoforo Buondelmonti', Lettere itaZiane~ 16 (1964), pp. 105-6. The 'enituit 1410' of Poccianti (note 29) could also indicate that he was born between 1380 and 1390.

31

Cornaro in his foreword to Creta sacra~ Venice, 1755 and repeated by G.R.L. de Sinner (ed.), Christoph BondeZmontii~ FZorentini~ Ziber insuZarum archipeZagi~ Leipzig/Berlin, 1824, p. 16. See also Weiss, Umanista (note 30), p. 107. He himself speaks of 'mea ecclesia Florentie', see Descriptio, L. p. 133.

32

Legrand, op. cit., XXI, assumes that Buondelmonti left for Rhodes as early as 1406, stayed there for 8 years, and only set out on his travels in 1414. In fact he made his journeys during those eight years on Rhodes. Cf. Jacobs (note 29), p. 334.

33

Weiss, Umanista, p. 106, believes that Buondelmonti was employed by .Jacopo I Crispo, the Duke of the Archipelago (1397-1418).

34

Ambrosius Traversari, EpistuZae~ L. Mehus (ed.), I, 1759, p. 378; see also Weiss, Umanista (note 30), pp. 109-10.

35

See G. Tiraboschi, Storia VI, Milano, 1824, p. 102.

36

Another reminder of his stay on Rhodes is a stele with inscription in the Archaeological Museum in Rhodes, see G. Jacopi, 'Il ritrovamento d'una epigrafe di Cristoforo Buondelmonti', Z'Universo XI, 1 (gennaio 1930), pp. 172~ (with illustration).

37

Weiss, Umanista, p. 109 and note 46: the dating in Buondelmonti's third work: de nomina virorum illustrium: 'incipiunt nomina virorum illustrium libri presbyteri christophori bondelmont de florencia quem ordinavit et composuit in Rodiano civitate ad instanciam illustrissimi regis Jani Cypri Anno domini Millesimo quadringentesimo vicesimo tercio'.

38

If some of the insertions were his own!

39

Legrand, (note 28), pp. XII-XIII.

deZZa Zetteratura itaZiana~

NOTES TO PP. 134 - 136

388

40

Jacobs, (note 29), pp. 338-9.

41

Almagia, (note 28), p. 106 note 1. The quotation is from the foreword to the Italian version of Buondelmonti's work, that dates from 1430; Codex Rossiano 703 in the Vatican Library, fol. 1v.

42

Buondelmonti's presence in Crete is known from dated notes in manuscripts which he managed to acquire on the island, and which are now in Florence in the Biblioteca Laurentiana. See Legrand, (note 28), pp. XXIV-XXV. For example: Codex Ambros. A 12219 inf. fol. 18: 'ego autem anno nativitatis domini MCCCCXVII ... Cretam totam diebus XXIIII equester perquisivi'.

43

Legrand, pp. XXV-XXVI.

44

Cf. Almagia, (note 28), p. 106 note 5; in the title of the Codex Rossiano 703 in the Vatican Library Niccolo Niccoli is mentioned by name; in other MSS. there is only reference to 'a certain Nicolaus'. See Almagia, p. 116.

45

Jacobs, (note 29), p. 317.

46

Legrand, op. cit., p. XXII. The last two figures (XX) were obviously added to complete the acrostic; the contents of the chapters have no further meaning.

47

The writing survives in a humanist anthology of Gambalunghiana of Rimini; see Weiss, Umanista, p. 109 note 46.

48

A. Campana,

'Da codici del Buondelmonti', in:

zantina in onore di Silvio Giuseppe

SiZZoge bi-

Mercati~

Rome, 1957, pp. 33 and 35: 'scripsi hunc librum figuramque insule in urbe Constantinopoli, die XVIII mensis Ianuarii MCCCCXXII' (= Chigianus F IV, 74, fol. 25r - 50v in the Vatican Library). 49

In all there are only six known codices with the Descriptio Insulae Cretae. See Almagia, op. cit., p. 106 and p. 115. Both the long and the short version of the Descriptio are published by F. Cornaro in: Creta Sacra~ I, Venice, 1755, pp. 1-18 (short version) and pp. 77-109 (long version). They can also both be found in Legrand,

Description des tZes de Z'ArchipeZ par Christophe BuondeZmonti~

Paris, 1897, pp. 101-37 (long version) and pp. 139-56 (short one). Legrand's text is a rather better version of the text by Cornaro in Creta Sacra.

NOTES TO P. 136

389

Both editions are based on the MS in the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice, that originated from S. Michele de Murano. 50

Jacobs, (note 29), pp. 319-24. Lorenzo de Buondelmonti still had the work in about 1570, but when the family died out in 1774 this book must have got lost.

51

Milano, Biblioteca Ambrosiana A 12219 inf. and Ravenna, Biblioteca Classence 308. For the passages about the Sporades: G. Gerola, 'Le tredici Sporadi nel Codice Classence di Cristoforo Buondelmonti', R. Deputazione di Storia patria per le Romagne~ Atti e memorie~ Serie IV, vol. 4 (1913/1914), pp. 450-84.

52

Of the shortened version many MSS exist; there are eight in the Biblioteca Vaticana alone. Cf. Almagia, op. cit., p. 107.

53

For the various versions of the Liber Insularum Archipelagi: Weiss, Umanista, (note 30), pp. 107-8. The words in which Buondelmonti refers to this earlier work, tv Etv~ov (a gift) were not understood by later copyists, and led to words such as 'ensenium' and 'anserinus' creeping into the title, which people came to think referred to the author. See Legrand, (note 28), p. XXVI.

54

The shortened version of 1422 was published in 1824 by G.R.L. de Sinner, Christoph Bondelmontii~ Florentini~ Liber Insularum Archipelagi~ Leipzig/Berlin, 1824, a publication based on the Paris MS. A French translation can be found in Legrand's edition of 1897. There is a manuscript with many variants, dating from 1428 or 1429, in England: No. 475 Holkham-Hall (Norfolk), cf. Legrand, op. cit., p. IX and Campana, (note 48), p. 42 note 3. More variants can be found in a so far unpublished Italian version, which survives in Codex Rossiano 704 in the Biblioteca Vaticana. This version certainly dates from 1430, and may go back to Buondelmonti himself. Cf. Almagia, op. cit., pp. 105-6 (version C).

55

Buondelmonti's Latin shows an extremely strong Italian influence. Some frequently made mistakes are: use of genitive instead of ablative; nominative absolute construction; confusion of active and passive forms, especially in deponentia; wrong declinations; confusion of in with accusative and with ablative.

390

NOTES TO PP. 136 - 140

56

Liber Insularum Archipelagi (L.I.A.), preface. Also Jacobs (note 29), p. 340, who points to the teaching activity of Guarino in Florence, 1410-1414.

57

L.I.A., last sentence of the praefatio.

58

E. Jacobs, 'Neues von Cristoforo Buondelmonti', Jdi. 20 (1905), pp. 42-4; also N.A.E. Nordenskiold, PeripZus~ Stockholm, 1897, p. 59.

59

P. Revelli, ItaZia e iZ mar di Leva:nte~ Milano, 1917, p. 128. Also Legrand, op. cit., pp. XXVIII-XXIX.

60

G. Gerola, 'Le vedute di Costantinopoli di Cristoforo Buondelmonti', Studi bizantini e neoeUenici~ 3 (1931), pp. 253ff.

61

Jacobs, Neues (note 58), p. 44. See also D. Silvestri, proprietatibus~ C. Pecoraro (ed.), Palermo, 1955.

De insuZis et earum 62

Weiss, Umanista (note 30), pp. 108-9; Nordenskiold, op. cit., p. 59.

63

L. I. A. capita 61 (Sinner, p. 117) and 65 (Sinner p. 121).

64

Legrand, op. cit., p. XIV.

65

Descriptio, L. p. 134.

66

L.I.A. caput 58 (S. pp. 112-3).

67

Descriptio (long version), L. p. 131; Cornaro, p. 104.

68

Sinner, p. 22; Knowledge of Greek is shown in the Liber Insularum Archipelagi mainly in the etymological explanations and mythological stories.

69

B. Gerola, 'Le etimologie dei nomi di luogo in Cristoforo Buondelmonti', ReaZe Istituto Veneto di Scienze~ Zettere ed arti~ Atti~ 92,2 (1932-1933), pp. 1129-74.

70

See also E. Jacobs, 'Zu Buondelmontis Kretischen Reisen', in: Stephaniskos Ernst Fabricius zum VI.-IX. MDCCCCXXVII~ Freiburg, 1927, pp. 56ff.

71

Homer, Iliad~ 2, 649 and Vergil, Aeneid~ 3, 106; but in the Odyssey (19, 174) there are ninety towns on the island of Crete.

72

L.I.A. caput 11: 'habuit enim centum civitates quarum vestigia ad sexagesimum accessi numerum'. Also S.A.

391

NOTES TO PP. 140 - 144

xanthoudides,' 6 ~a~os ~ou Ka~a~a 13 (1901), p. 310 note 1.

sv

Kpn~n~·,

Athena~

73

Cf. for the absence of a feeling for the beauty of nature in virtually all pre-Romantic authors: G. Steinhausen, 'Beitrage zur Geschichte des Reisens', Das Ausland~ 66 (1893), pp. 221-2; 234-7 and 250-1; also W. Ganzenmliller, Das Naturgefuhl im Mittelalter~ LeipzigBerlin, 1914.

74

Descriptio, L. pp. 108-9: 'sunt asper1 1n bello in montibusque velocissimi et usque ad X et centum annos silvestras non cessant per montibus asperis invadere capras. Pro bacco 1actem ut plurimum bibunt et dolores infirmitatesque quasi omnes usque ad terminum mortis ignorant!

75

Descriptio, L. p. 104 (birds); L. p. 127 (bees and the smell of thyme).

76

Descriptio, L. pp. 101-2; p. 108; p. 129.

77

Descriptio, L. p. 114.

78

Descriptio, L. p. 129; According to Weiss, Umanista (note 30), p. 113 the Nicolaus referred to was the Venetian patrician Niccolo Cornaro. The 'ex gente Scipionis' points in this direction, see Jacobs (note 70), p. 60.

79

Descriptio, L. p. 137.

80

Descriptio, L. p. 118.

81

Descriptio, L. p. 129-30.

82

The fine statue of Diana or Venus near Phenix: Descriptio, L. p. 110; the two statues of the apostles in Gortyn: Descriptio, L. pp. 129-30.

83

Descriptio, L. p. 110.

84

Descriptio, L. p. 123.

85

Descriptio, L. p. 123.

86

Descriptio, L. p. 129.

87

Descriptio, L. p. 131; a more detailed discussion of the monuments seen by Buondelmonti in Crete follows in Part II, Ch. XV, Crete.

88

For the monks on the rocks,L.I.A., c. 7; for the description of the crater of Santorini, L.I.A., c. 19.

392

NOTES TO PP. 144 - 149

89

Rhodes, L.I.A., c. 13; Cos, L.I.A., c. 45.

90

L.I.A., introduction of c. 11.

91

Rhodes, L.I.A., c. 13.

92

Cos, L. I .A., c. 45.

93

See Part II, Islands of the Archipelago.

9lf

Chios, L.I.A., c. 58.

95

This picture of a ship, cut out of the rocks, may perhaps be compared with the picture of a Hellenic triere, such as is still to be seen today in Lindus on Rhodes.

96

Delos, L.I.A., c. 32; the remains of this gigantic statue could still be seen on Delos several hundred years later; Boschini (a 17th century geographer) writes the following about it: '(si vede oggi) rovina d'un gran Colosso di finissimo marmo, il quale giace per terra rotto in diverse parti'; cf. Sinner, comment on p. 92.

97

Hellespont-Gallipoli, L.I.A., c. 61.

98

J.P.A. van der Vin, 'Een muntvondst in de Middeleeuwen', '69~ January 1973, pp. 11-2.

Munt 99

That they were go ld co1ns · · no t apparen t f ram th e 1s version published by De Sinner, where there is only reference to 'argentum' in the sense of 'money'. In the Greek version, published and trans.lated by Legrand, there is definite mention of gold. Cf. Legrand, op. cit., p. 82, line 82.

100

For the completely different views of Sultan Murad I (1362-1389): A.E. Vacalopoulos, Origins of the Greek Nation; The Byzantine Period~ 1204-1461~ New Brunswick, 1970, p. 74.

1 01

L.I.A., c. 65; Sinner, p. 122; Legrand, p. 242.

102

Enea, the church named, according to a certain tradition, after the nine angelic hosts, ~wv EvvEa ~ayui~wv.

103

For details see Part II, Ch. XVII, Constantinople, monumental columns.

10lf

Ph. Williams Lehmann, 'Theodosius or Justinian? A Renaissance Drawing of a Byzantine Rider', The Art Bulletin~ 41 ( 1959 )·, pp. 53-4; the two MSS with the added passage are in Venice and Marburg respectively. The

393

NOTES TO PP. 149 - 153

Italian 'vulgate' version (Rossiano 704) also contains this passage. See Almagia, (note 28), p. 114 note 3. 105 Weiss,

Umanista (note 30), p. 115; idem Almagia, op. cit., pp. 113-4 and note 3.

106

For a detailed discussion see Part II, Ch. XVII, Constantinople, column with statue of Justinian I.

107

B. Trapier, Les 1937, pp. 23-4.

108

M. V. Minorsky,

voyageurs Arabes au

Moyen-Age~ Paris,

'Geographes et voyageurs musulmans',

Bulletin de la Societe royale de Geographie

d'Egypte~

24 (1949), pp. 19ff. 109

A.-D. v. den Brincken, ' ut describeretur' (note 25), p. 254 points out the difference with west-European cartography, in which for a long time only general maps of the world were drawn.

11 0

Minorsky, op. cit., p. 23.

111

F. Taeschner, 'Der Bericht des arabischen Geographen Ibn al-Wardi Uber Konstantinopel', Beitrage zur historischen Geographie~ Kulturgeographie~ Ethnographie und Kartographie~ vornehmlich des Orients~ H. M~ik (ed.), Leipzig/

Vienna, 1929, p. 84. 112

Geographie d'Aboulfeda~ M. Reinaud (ed.), II, Paris, 1848, p. 315.

113

114

See the texts at the back, taken from Ibn Hauqal, Aboulfeda and the Hudud al- Reliefschmuck des Galeriusbogens in Thessaloniki~ Berlin, 1975, p. 4; also

Piri Re'is Bahrije. Das tarkische Segelhandbuch filr das Mittellandische Meer vom Jahre 1521~ P. Kahle (ed.), II, Berlin, l926, p. 25. 14

15

16

17

18

19

Vincent of Beauvais,

Speculum historiale~ VI, 2l.

A. Pertusi, 'Mo~asteri e monaci italiani all'Athos nell' alto medioevo', in: le millenaire du Mont Athos~ 963-1963~ Etudes et melanges~ I. Chevetogne, 1963, pp. 219-31. Also P. Lemerle, 'Les archives du monastere des Amalfitains au Mont Atho s ' , • En:ETI)Pt~ · E"rat.pe: [as Buk:avr t. \XJSv 2:n:o't..JEi0v, 23 (1953), pp. 548ff. In l287 the monastery went to the Megale' Laura, which had already annexed some of its lands. For the monasteries on the Athos: W.P. Theunissen, heilige berg Athos~ The Hague, l965, pp. l33ff.

Op de

For a list of the various monasteries e.g. Ignatius of Smolensk; Clavijo's informants probably counted the 19 large monasteries together with the cells of the anchorites.

Liber Insularum Archipelagi~ eh. 70; Description~

L.

le

Grand (ed.) pP· 248-5l. 20 21

Pertusi, op. cit., pp. 246 ff. H. Graeven,

blatt filr 9.

'Cyriacus von Ancona auf dem Athos', Centrall6 (1899), pp. 209-11 and 498-

Bibliotheks~esen~

NOTES TO PP. 192 - 195

413

22

See Part I, biography of Buondelmonti. The Turkish invasion of Europe began in l354 with the capture of Gallipoli.

2 3

' Schiltberger and Bertrandon de la Broquiere; the latter had difficulties with the ferrymen, who wanted to overcharge him for the crossing.

21;.

Oeuvres de Ghillebert de

Lannoy~

Ch. Potvin, (ed.), Louvain,

1878, p. 161. 25

Cf. Acropolites, Historia~ eh. l3.

26

In the Iliad~ :XX.407 ff. Polydorus is killed by Achilles; According to a later tradition, e.g. in Euripides' Hecuba~ he was sent to Thrace.

27

A,eneid~ III, 22-68, where the -miracles to do with the tumulus of Polydorus are described.

28

29

30

31 32

33 3

Mangalia, the ancient Callatis, a harbour on the southern side of the Roumanian coast. Cf. Lexikon der christlichen Xkonographie~ s.v. Helden, neun; s73e also: J. Huizinga, He:rfsttij der Middeleeuwen~ Haarlem , l947, pp. 94-5. For the history see W. Miller, The Latins in the Levant~ London, l908, expecially the tables on pp. 652-4. Also Setton, The Papacy and the Levant~ I, Philadelphia, 1976, passim. Robert Guiscard died on Kefallenia on July l5, 1085. Setton, op. cit., p. 3. Miller, op. cit., p. 653.

~;. See the biography of Buondelmonti in Part I, chapter on geographers.

35

36

Cf. the landscape description in Odyssey~ 4, 605-8 and 9, 21-8. For problems in identifying Odysseus' Ithaca: The Odyssey of Homer~ Edited by W.B. Stanfield~ London 2 , l964, Part I, Introduction, pp. XXXV-XLI.

Odyss-ey l3, l59-64

for the changing of the Phaeacians1

ship into a rock. 37

Cf. Vergil, Aeneid~ 3, 275.

414

NOTES TO PP. 195 - 197

38

Miller, op. cit., p. 653. From 1206-1214 CorfO was under Venetian rule, from 1214 - 1259 under the despots of Epirus, from 1259 - 1266 under Manfred of Sicily and Southern Italy, and finally from 1267 - 1286 under the Angevins.

3 9

Cf. Modon, where, too, unhealthy living conditions are found inside the confining walls, and Symon Semeonis' description of the city of Candia. Chapter XIII

1

J. Fallmerayer, 'Welchen Einfluss hatte die Besetzung Griechenlands durch die Slaven auf das Schicksal der Stadt Athen und der Landschaft Attika?', Abhandl. kgl. bayr. Akad. Wiss.~ 1835. E. Reisinger (ed.), Griechenland. Landschaften und Bauten. Schilderungen deutscher Reisender~ Leipzig, 1916, p. 5; also G.F. Hertzberg, Geschichte Griechenlands~ I. Gotha, 1876, pp. 113ff.

2

The central theme in the works of Fallmerayer is his attempt to show that nothing remained of the old Hellenes as a result of the Slav invasions. Coming so soon after the Greek war of independence (1821) this thesis aroused great resistance among western philhel1enes; this resulted in fierce polemics. It has since emerged that Fallmerayer was in fact right, in general lines, but that he was too extreme in the way he formulated his views. Moreover, he had little material at his disposal to base his propositions on. H.O. Eberl,

Jakob Ph. Fallmerayers Schriften in ihrer Bedeutung fur die historische Erkenntnis des graeko-slavischen Kulturkreises~ Berlin, 1930, pp. 26-30. The polemic did in fact lead to a profound study of all sorts of matters connected with the problems associated with the Slav invasions. 3

L. Ross succeeded in showing that the Anargyri chronicle 'discovered' by Pittakis and used by Fallmerayer was a forgery. The olive forests growing in the streets were reduced to badly maintained roads with a lot of weeds! L. Ross, 'War Athen jemals vierhundert Jahre verodet?', Kieler Allgemeiner Monatsschrift~ 1853, pp. 594-603 and idem, 'Die Monchschronik von Athen', Deutscher YJUseum~ 1854, No. 23 (1 Juni), pp. 826-33. For a modern view of the problem of the Slav invasions: J. Herrin, 'Aspects of the Process of Hellenization in the Early Middle Ages', BSA. 68 (1973), pp. 113ff. and P. Charanis, 'Observations on the History of Greece during the Early Middle Ages', Balkan Studies~ 11 (1970),

NOTES TO P. 197

415

pp. ~~t. expecially pages 13-23 for the Slav tribes forcing their way into Greece, and 24-34 for a critical view o~ Fallmerayer's ideas and writings. 4

J. Day, An economic His-tory of Athens under Roman Domination3 New York, 1942, pp. 168ff. Cf. Cicero, De finihus bonorum et malorum3 V, 1,~.

5

E.G. Herodes Atticus· and the Syrian prince C. Julius Antiochus Philopappus.

6

Only the Acropolis, which was detended by Publius Herennius Dexippus, is said not to have been conquered by the Heruli; cf. Historia Augusta3 Gallienus 3 XIII, 8. See W.B. Dinsmoor Jr., 'New Fragments of the Parthenon in the Athenian Agora', Hesperia 3 43 (1974), p. ~47 note 24.

7

J. Travlos, Bildlexikon zur Topographie des antiken Athen3 Tlibingen, 197~, p. ~6~; also Dinsmoor, op. cit., p. 151.

8

9

Zos·imus (IV, 8 and V, 5) recounts that the goddess Athene and Achilles appeared fully armed to defend their city against Alaric. Probably there was more loot to be found on the Peloponnesus. Cf. M.L. d'Ooge, The Acropolis of Athens3 London, ~908, pp. 305-6. De expositio totius mundi et gentium is a treatise, originally written in Greek by a Levantine trader; it was written in the mid-fourth century, and only translated into Latin several centuries later. See M. Schanz - C. Hosius, Geschichte der lateinischen Literatur, IV, MUnchen, ~920, pp. ~25-7, no. 1062 and also W. Schmid- 0. Stahlin, Geschichte der griechischen Literatur3 II,2, MUnchen, ~924, p. ~046. The text is published in Geografi Graeci Minores (ed. MUller), II, pp. 5~3ff; the passage about Attica on p. 524: 'Civitates autem habet has~< Corinthum et Athenas, Corinthum enim civitatem multam in negotiis et habentem opus praecipuum amphitheatri, Athenas vero et historias antiquas et aliquid dignum nominatu, arcem ubi multis statuis stantibus mirabile est videre dicendum antiquorum bellum~

10

Synesius of Cyrene, Epistula ~36: oooev EXOUCJl-V at vDv • A{Jf)vat, OEJJ.vOV, 6A..:\ • il -ra 'Me: 1,va. -rwv X1 • And the size of the dome extends from one end (lit. front) to the other. And it has a door near the middle of the church. And ascending into the upper storey there are five turns (?) in all, and another 35 stairs go up. 2

Hodegetria church: 2. And there is another monastery which is called Kiramos Mas] where there is an icon painted by Luke the Evangelist, on one side of which is the Mother of God, and the Saviour in her arm(s), and on the other side there is another Christ on the cross on the right, and the Mother of God on the left. And every Tuesday there is a procession (lit. pilgrimage) there.

[ = Kyra

Monastery of Lazarus (near the Hagia Sophia): 3. And there is another monastery where there are the relics of Lazarus, the friend of Christ, whom he raised from the dead after four days; and of his two sisters, Mary and Martha. And there are 63 yellow bronze chains; And the church is beautiful and worthy of honour, with two storeys, built of marble, and of porphyry work.

Statue of Justinian I: 3a. And outside the door in front is a great column of the church, alongside, and on the column is constructed (a statue of) Justinian in bronze, who built Ayea Sofia and enlarged the city. 1 2

I prefer: "many lamps". (cf. Clari). I disagree with Brock, who believes that the description of the church with a dome has to be connected with the Lazarus monastery.

608

ANONYMOUS ARMENIAN

Hagii Apostoli: 11. And another great church is called the Holy Apostles. There, in the middle of the great altar, are the relics of the holy evangelist Luke, and of the holy apostles Titus 3 and Timothy. There too are the relics of the patriarch Apirindos 4 and of John Chrysostom. There are also the tombs of the pious kings, Constantine: its casing is of red marble; and that of Theodosius the Great, and of Justian: its casing is of green marble. And there is the pillar to which they bound Christ on the night on which they arrested Christ and led him off to crucify him; and there is the stone which Peter, at the time of the denial, mounted and remembered the word of the Lord, and he wept bitterly on the stone. And there is an icon of the Saviour, which, when a Jew struck it with a knife, blood came up from that icon.

Column of the angel: And outside stood a high column, on top of which is elevated, in bronze, the angel Gabriel, and Constantine the King.

Blachernae church: 16. And there is a church called Luahernas [ = Blachernai], beautiful and marvellous, with two storeys, and 6 green marble columns; 18 in the lower storey and 18 in the upper (one); and other columns.

Column of Constantine: 18. And there is a high column in the middle of the city, where are the 7 baskets of the fragments with which Christ fed the multitude. And the column is of 7 branches . And on the top is a great iron cross-shape, bound in lead. 3

4

probably St. Andrew. Spyridon

NiCCOLO DA MARTONI

1395

Niccolo da Martoni.

Title Author Motive Date Stay in Greece Visit to

609

Nicolai de Marthono, notarii, liber peregrinationis ad 1oca sancta. Italian notary. pilgrimage to Jerusalem. 1394-1395. in the summer of 1394 and the spring of 1395. Athens - Corinth - Patras - central Greece - Archipelago.

Remarks

oldest medieval description of the antiquities of Athens.

Text

1 MS. in the Bibliotheque nationale (Paris), MMS. fonds latin 6521, fols. 67-103. L. le Grand, 'Relation du Pelerinage a Jerusalem de Nicolas de Martoni, notaire italien (1394-1395)', Revue de l'Orient latin~ 3 (1895). pp.566 - 669 (reprint Brussels, 1964).

Edition

the passages about Athens: W. Judeich, 'Athen im Jahre 1395 nach der Beschreibung des Niccolo da Martoni', AM. 22 (1897), pp. 423-38. J. Morton Paton, Chapters on Mediaeval

and Renaissance Visitors to Greek

Lands~

Princeton, 1951. the visit to Cyprus: C. Enlart, 'Notes sur le voyage de Nicolas de Martoni en Chypre', Revue de l'Orient latin~ 4 (1896), pp. 623-32.

Modon and Koron: The following day, Friday, July 3 of the same indiction, we saw towards evening the mountains of the island of Sapientia. There is nothing on the island except a small fort, high up, in which there is a garnison for the protection of Koron and Modon; the latter lies at a distance of 3 miles from.the island of Sapientia. Koron lies further inland, 40 miles from Modon. The

610

NICCOLO DA MARTONI

Venetians bear rule over these territories. Formerly the area was under the rule of the king of Italy, who gave them to the Venetians to protect that part of the sea, as support for the other adjacent parts of Romania; he did this because of the marauding Saracens. And under the same pretext the Venetians remained in possession of these territories.

Cerigo, the abduction of Helen by Paris: On the island of Citrini (Cerigo) there is one city, and the Venetians are rulers over it. On that island of Citrini Paris, the son of the Trojan king Priam, landed when he wanted to set out to avenge Exion, his sister, who had been stolen away by the Greeks and carried off to their country; he went against the will of Hector and his other brothers, who foretold the destruction of Tray. But with several ships he went off to Greece and landed on the island of Citrini, where a temple stood- and still stands; at that temple he met Helen, the wife of king Menelaus, who reigned in that part of Romania that was then Greece; and when he, Paris, and Helen - who, in her beauty was like a jewel among women - saw each other, they were seized with violent love for each other; and so in that temple on Citrini he stole Helen away and took her to Tray.

Archipelago: On Friday, July 10 we came to the islands of Milos and others which form the beginning of the Archipelago. To the south of Milos lies Candia, with a perimeter of 600 miles. On that island there are good wines and malmsey; the Venetians bear rule there. After that comes the island of St. George, which is uninhabitable, and then the island of Santurini, which is 20 miles round; it is habitable, and belongs to the Archipelago. This Archipelago is a duchy consisting of more than 300 islands, some habitable, some not. The duke of the Archipelago was murdered, and his mother continued as ruler of some of the islands; the Venetians ruled over the others. And it should be known that all those islands formerly belonged to Greece, and even now there are Greeks living there.

NICCOLO DA MARTONI

611

Chios - Candia: In the Archipelago there is an island called Ssiu, on which mastic grows; and in no other place is it found apart from there, and therefore each year a great quantity is sold, for more than 15,000 ducats. The island of Candia can arm, at will, some sixteen galleys; and on that island of Candia lies the labyrinth, in which formerly in Minotaur lived.

Stampalia: On Saturday, July 11 we landed on an island called Stampalia; it is 30 miles round, and was formerly inhabited, but it has been devastated by the Turks, and is now uninhabitable. There is still a fort with walls to be seen; and on this island animals live in the woods, such as stinking goats, donkeys and other animals.

Lango (Cos) - Nisyros: The island of Lango, where the Knights of St. John rule, is habitable; it is 200 miles round, and there are several fortresses and villages. Near that island is the mainland of Turchia, and there are high mountains, such as the Mons Marsicus (near Carinola); the mainland is 15 miles from that island. And there, nearby the place from which we made the crossing, at a distance of two miles, is the island of Niczari; it is 18 miles round, and it looked like the mountains of Roccecte, and the Mons Fassianus near the town of Carinola. On that island there are three forts, one near the sea, the others high in the mountains; there are various villages and it yields large quantities of crops; but they do not grow wheat there, but barley. That island is ruled by the Knights of St. John.

Symi: Past the island of Niczari we found the island of Ssimie, on which, so it is said, grow the best wines in the world; they keep the wines in earthenware vessels, because they have no wood available. The Knights of St. John rule over the island.

612

NICCOLO DA MARTONI

Each day this island of Ssimie sends great quantities of grapes to the market at Rhodes; these grapes are of excellent quality; it is a good market, and we ate many grapes when we were there.

Rhodes: Before three o'clock on Monday,July 13 we came to the city of Rhodes. It would be going too far to describe the city in detail; therefore I say briefly that the city seemed to me to be about as big as Capua. The centre of the city is separated from the borgo by high and heavy walls with towers; in the city proper is the fort and the church of St. John.

Rhodes, borgo: The borgo of Rhodes is shut off by high walls; its population is more numerous than that of the fortress. In this borgo live shopkeepers and merchants, and that is where the harbour activities take place.

Rhodes, the church of St. Nicholas and an idol: At the end of the harbour-dam stands a church of St. Nicholas. A great miracle was told me and corroborated: in antiquity a great statue of a god used to stand there, so wonderfully made that it had one leg on the place where St. Nicholas' church stands, and the other on the end of the other dam, the one where the windmills are, and the two dams were half a mile apart. Upon these stood the statue, straight as a die; its body was so large that ships and other vessels of every size, when they wanted to sail into the harbour of Rhodes, sailed under the legs of the statue, in full sail, and whoever climbed up to the head of the statue, could see to a distance of lOO miles, so large was the statue. Later it was destroyed. And the statue was called Coliseus, and for that reason the people on the island of Rhodes, to whom St. Paul sent so many letters to convert them to the catholic faith, were called Colossians, after the statue known as Coliseus. No more need be said about Rhodes. On Sunda~ July 19, towards evening, we left the harbour and set off in the direction of Alexandria.

NICCOLD DA MARTONI

613

Lango: On Tuesday, February 2 we could not round the head of the island of Nizari, which was our direct route, because of the contrary wind. We came to the island of Lango and towards evening we arrived in the harbour. Master Antonatius and I immediately left the ship with the boat that went to fetch water, so as to see the island and to see the house of the very famous and learned philosopher and doctor Hippocrates, who came from Lango. The town of Lango is on the sea and according to my estimation it is about as large as the town of Carinola; it has, however, dreadful houses. There is a fort there, in which the governor, a Knight of St. John, resides. This fort is right between the sea and a lake that is about a third as big as the lake of Carinola, and the sea water streams under the bridge of the fort into the lake, so that the fort is cut off by the sea and the lake, and is difficult of access.

Lango, the house of Hippocrates: The house of Hippocrates lies about two stone throws outside the city. I believe that it formerly lay inside it, because the area of the city was then larger. And first of all I saw a fountain, with excellent water, that Hippocrates had had made, and which is now called Fons Hippocratis; the fountain is near the house. One can see that the house itself was once a large complex, like a fort, with many different large buildings. Now, however, it is in ruins, and in some parts of the complex the animals of Lango are stabled. In that complex of buildings there is a large, deep cellar, about which I was told a remarkable story by Brother Dominicus, while I was staying in the city of Rhodes. He said that the daughter of Hippocrates was changed into a snake, that lived in the cellar and showed itself to people in the form of a beautiful woman, and she kept asking to be kissed by a man, while she was in the form of a snake. She promised many great treasures and great richies to the man, who would kiss her as a snake, and said she would take him as her husband. The people of Lango say that the snake is often seen in front of the cellar. The island of Lango is 150 miles round, and is very fertile in crops and animals. It brings the governor in 10,000 ducats a year.

614

NICCOLO DA MARTONI

Paros: On that day we found an island, called Paras. It is densely populated, and is called Paros, because Paris, the son of king Priam of Troy, was banished to that island because at his birth it was foretold that the city of Troy would be destroyed on account of the one who was fed on milk there by shepherds.

To Athens: Constantly thinking of getting back to our fatherland, we decided to set off for the city of Athens, which shortly after the death of Master Raynerio of Florence, who had governed the city and the whole duchy, had come under the power of the Venetians. Next we wanted to go through Romania to Corinth and from there to travel with the help of the duke, who was known to master Antonatius, to Venice or some other place in the direction of our fatherland. And so we found the skipper of a small boat, who was prepared to take us from Thermia to Athens, a distance of 80 miles, for 10 ducats. We left by night, with great fear for Turkish ships, and sailed in the direction of the harbour of Athens, which is four miles of the city; because the wind was against us we could not reach the harbour, but we landed in another harbour, 24 miles from Athens, towards evening on February 24.

Porto Rafti: Close to the harbour, on a hill, stand two marble statues, one of a man and one of a woman, about which the following story is told: the male figure was once a human being, who pursued the woman, a virgin, with dishonest intentions. When the woman finally saw that she could not escape falling into the man's hands, she prayed to God that they should both be changed into marble statues; her prayers were heard, and there they stand to this very day.

NICCOLO DA MARTONI

615

From Porto Rafti to Athens: Like exiles, and afraid for the Turks who regularly prowl about this area, we found two beasts of burden and a horse among the fishermen who live there. We hired them for one ducat, to go as far as the city of Athens, and at dusk we left that harbour, 24 miles from Athens, and all night we walked in the rain through the mountains and the desolation, and towards morning on Wednesday, February 24 we reached the city of Athens.

Athens: The city of Athens, as appears from the old buildings and from what scholars and writers say about it, was formerly a great city with great buildings. We saw many columns and many pieces of marble, which now lie over the area formerly covered by buildings. The city itself used formerly to extend as far as the sea, and was 24 miles round, in the time of Emperor Hadrian, who governed the city. Then after its devastation by the Trojans the built up area shrank to include only the area round the fort. The city lies in between two mountains, which are six miles apart, and has a beautiful fertile plain stretching for twelve miles, on which there are several fine olive groves. Now, however, the city contains about a thousand homes.

Athens, two springs for acquiring wisdom: Because there were some antiquities I wanted to see in that city, I asked some of the inhabitants to guide me to see the buildings and ancient remains. First we came to two famous springs, from which every scholar was supposed to drink to obtain wisdom, for through that water from the springs, that people had to drink, the studies of the great philosophers, such as Aristotle and others in Athens, took place. The surrounds of the two springs were very beautifully made from blocks of marble. Next we came to the 'studium Aristotelis', a building made of marble blocks, 20 feet long and 16 feet wide. It was covered with beams and sheets of marble, and the whole building was decorated, all around and on top, with different sorts of decoration in gold and other fine colours; and thus on both

616

NICCOLO DA 1~RTONI

ends of this building remains of the decoration can still be seen. Outside the gate there are atria with columns, covered with beams and sheets of marble, and through these atria, so built and so decorated with gold, Aristotle used to walk for pleasure when he was tired of studying. Next we came to the place where the great 'hospitium' of Emperor Hadrian is situated. This has been destroyed; there are now still 20 columns, each about 80 palms high, and so thick that four men with outstretched arms could them encircle. On top of these columns are long, thick marble beams, on which stood a large building. And in the vicinity there is the entrance to a fortress, built of beautifully worked marble; this entrance is as beautiful as the entrance to the city of Capua, but not, it seems to me, as high. Outside the city there is a large bridge, with many remains of buildings nearby. Formerly the soldiers used to hold their competitions there; they ran at each other from either side, and the fight took place in the middle of the bridge. Next we went to the fort of the city, which was high up and built of marble. Inside is there is a great hall with 13 columns; on these columns are beams, 30 feet long, and on these beams there are sheets of marble. It is a great and wonderful sight to see. After that we came to the great church inside the fort, which is named after Mary. The church is built of great blocks of marble, which are all joined together with lead, and the church is as big as the church in Capua. Around the outside of the church are 60 large columns. Each of these is higher than the ladders used for the wine harvest, and so thick it would take five men with outstretched arms to encircle them. And on these columns are long, thick marble beams. And on these stands the atrium of the church. It is impossible for a human mind to imagine how such great buildings can have been constructed. Among the columns there is one column with a mark on it. St. Dionysius was standing close to it at the time of the Passion of Christ, and when all the buildings in the world trembled because of an earthquake, St. Dionysius spoke the following words: 'Either the whole world is being destroyed, or the Son of God must be undergoing suffering', and on the column he drew with his hand the sign of the cross. And that cross is still on the pillar. The entrance to this church is, I would

NICCOLO DA MARTONI

617

estimate, four rods (cannae) wide and five rods high. In this entrance there are doors which came from the city of Troy when it was sacked. The doors of the city gate were taken to Athens and placed in the church of St. Mary, as gates. The church has two naves, one behind the other; in the first nave the first altar of the world was placed, made by St. Dionysius after his conversion to the catholic faith. The choir of the church is beautiful, and round the altar are four jasper columns, all so thick that two men could encircle them with their arms, and with a height of two rods. On these pillars rests a large and magnificent canopy, over the altar. Near the altar is a large and beautiful cistern, into which, when it rains, large quantities of water pour.

Athens, the icon of Mary painted by St. Luke: Near the altar in a small chapel on the right is an icon depicting the holy Virgin Mary, painted by the hands of St. Luke the Evangelist. This icon is adorned with pearls, gems and many other valuable jewels, and is carefully guarded under lock and key. Around the inside of the church there are 80 marble columns, on which rest long marble beams with marble sheets; upon these a supporting beam runs all the way round. In a chink in the wall of the church a light shines, as if from a lighted fire that never goes out. It is believed that the body of a saint is enclosed in the wall just there. In the church we saw, that day, a number of holy relics, which were shown us by the custodians of the church. There was also a book with all the Gospels, written in Greek on gilded parchment by St. Helena; this book was regarded there as a costly treasure.

Athens, an

'ydolu~'

outside the Acropolis:

Outside the walls of the fortress there are two large columns, above which, so it is said, there was formerly a miraculous closed off space, in which there was a statue with such powers that if, at that time, ships came to Athens with hostile intentions, these were immediately destroyed by the statue, as far out to see as they were visible; if, however, they came to Athens for its good, no harm at all was done to the ships by the statue.

618

NICCOLD DA MARTONI

Departure from Athens: We could not reach the city of Corinth overland, because of the great dispute between the duke of Cefalonia and the despot of the Morea, a brother of the emperor in Constantinople, about the inheritance of their father-in-law, Master Raynerius, the duke of Athens. The duke had a great army of Turks with him and had made a treaty with the Turkish Sultan against the despot. So we left on Thursda~February 25 for the Venetian-ruled island of Negropontum, in the expectation of finding there a ship from Venice. We rode all day, on a couple of donkeys, because in Athens we could not find any horses to hire, and only late in the evening, in the darkness of the night, did we come to a fortified place, Zucchamini. On that day Turkish horsemen were ranging through the territory belonging to that place, and had captived people and animals; and round about dusk we crossed a path where just one hour earlier the Turks had passed by. It was God's will that on that day a man from Athens deceived us about the donkeys he had promised us. That is why we were so much delayed, for otherwise we would have fallen into their hands. Thus the saying that many troubles may sometimes be a blessing in disguise, is often shown to be true.

Negropontum: The island of Nigropontum is 300 miles round, and is separated from the mainland - the duchy of Athens - by a sea strait with a width of about 12 paces, or a little more. The city of Nigropontum is built in one corner of the island, near the strait; the city is smaller than the town of Suessa, but very densely populated with Franks and Greeks. The island boasts several forts and villages, and its population amounts to a total of 14,000 houses. The great church of this town is called the church of St. Mary, and is a beautiful church. In former times the town was three times as large; the city has been devastated by wars. Now the area of the city has been reduced to a place near the strait. Outside the city houses and ancient remains can be seen. Across the strait there are two wooden bridges on each side of the fortress (on an island in the channel). Over these bridges and through the fortress people cross to and from the island of Nigropontum. The bridges and the city gates are carefully guarded by armed men stationed there. The water flows constantly back and forth through this

NICCOLO DA 1~RTONI

619

strait like a river, moving sometimes in one direction, sometimes in the other; this is why there are two harbours there for the ships.

Back to Athens: On the Saturday before Palm Sunday, at about nine o'clock, we came to the city of Athens, hoping to find there Master Ludovicus de Prata, the archbishop of that city. We did not find him, for he was with the duke of Cefalonia in Corinth. We found his chaplain and some members of his family, who he had sent to take possession of the goods belonging to his church, and to administer them. By force of necessity we stayed in his house that day and the following night, because in Athens no inns were to be found where we could spend the night.

Athens - Eleusis

Megara - Corinth:

On Palm Sunday, April 4 we attended Mass in the small and poor church of St. Dominic, where only two clergy were present, and received the blessed palm branches; then we left, with several beasts of burden which we had hired, for Castrum Metre, a place which had recently come into the hands of the Duke of Cefalonia, in a legacy from his wife, a daughter of Master Raynerius. The place is 24 miles from Athens and the whole of that day we travelled, sometimes on foot, sometimes on a pack animal, in great fear and dread of robbers and Turks, who constantly made that area unsafe. Towards evening we were 15 miles from Athens, and there came across a fort called Lipissinox. It was formerly a very large and fine city, as is apparent from the buildings and the many columns and pieces of marble lying there. Water flowed to the city carried through pipes built up on pillars and arches, in which the water flowed from the mountains to the city. When it was still intact the city used to have a circumference of 10 miles.

Departure from Megara: On Monday,April 5 we found a boat, so small that five of us could harly get into it. For five hyperpera it was to take us to the harbour of Corinth. We left after breakfast, from

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Castrum Metre - the fortress consists of 80 homes, and is situated on a fertile plain - and we travelled all day, using the oars, and at dusk we came into the harbour of Corinth, 15 miles from the city. There, in that harbour we found two other ships from Castrum Metre, and their crew told us that we could not get to Corinth without endangering our lives. But the next morning, April 6, we went into the city of Corinth, and after paying our respects to the Duke we found the archbishop there with him, and he took us into his house, because there were no inns to be found and no bread for sale. And thanks to intervention of the archbishop we got the duke to let us travel with his ships, which had come to the harbour of Corinth to take his wife, the duchess, to the island of Cefalonia.

Corinth: Many remarkable stories are told in the West about the city of Corinth, which are not true. But I shall tell the truth, and make matters entirely clear. It is true that in former times the city was large and important, in the time of King Alexander. The city was then in another place, too, on a plain between the mountain, on which it now stands, and the harbour, and as the ruins show it was a large and important place. The city was ten miles in circumference, and all the houses were covered with lead and other metals. And when at a certain date the city was besieged by the Romans, who then ruled the whole world, the city caught fire, and in the blaze the whole city was burned down. And so lead and the metals from the burning houses flowed down the streets into the sea, and so this great and noble city was destroyed. This was the city which King Alexander, to whom Corinth was dearer than all other cities, did not wish to part with to anybody. Now, however, the city stands on a high mountain, and this mountain is surrounded by delapidated walls. Master Antonatius and I, who walked round the city, are of the opinion that it is about two miles round. Inside the walls there are ruined houses and in many places there are open spaces. I believe that in all the empty spaces in the city no more than two thumini of grain were sawn. In the city there are about 50 houses. On a rock inside the city stands a fort, delapidated, but still difficult of access. The city lies between two harbours, 15 miles from the one, but

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4 miles from the other one, where the city was formerly situated. The one harbour lies in a direct line 6 miles from the other, and they are separated by a piece of land that is now called Sexmilia. Formerly King Alexander wanted to have a channel dug across this piece of land from one harbour to the other, so that Corinth and the whole of the Morea (the province belonging to it) would become an island. He did not succeed, however, in digging through that territory, because it is very stony, and up to the present day traces of the former excavation work can still be seen.

The Isthmus wall: And so he had a great high wall built from one harbour to the other, and thus nobody could get across i t to do harm to Corinth; this wall is still intact in some places, but in other places is in a state of decay. And in truth, these were and are the facts about Corinth. Before we left we paid a visit to a small, very devout church of St. Paul, where the saint stayed when he was a prisoner, when he sent his letters to the Corinthians; he was chained to a pillar, on which a cross can still be seen that he made on it with his own hand. After that we went down to the harbour with a group of people, but with fear in our hearts. The duchess also went with us; she boarded one brigantine with her train, and we the other. The same evening, towards dusk, we came to the town of Patras, and there we found not a single place or inn to spend the night at, not even at the church of St. Nicholas, a monastery of the Minorites. But the archbishop of Patras, an acquaintance and friend of Master Antonatius, took us all to his beautiful palace. It has a great hall, 25 feet long, and all the way round the walls of the hall, the whole history of the sack of the city of Troy is depicted. The archbishop, one of the order of the Minorites, rules over the city, and several other areas also come under his spiritual and secular jurisdiction. On Tuesday, April 20, towards nine o'clock, we arrived in the harbour of Corfu. Corfu is a prosperous island, 160 miles round. Formerly it belonged to the king of Naples, but now the Venetians are lord and master there. The city is in a corner of the. island; it is a big city, I think as big as the city of

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Theanum, but for the most part the city has delapidated houses and extremely narrow streets. It is situated close to the sea, and there are two harbours. Inside the city there are two fortresses, standing on two high rocks, one bowshot apart. From the outside these forts look to be in good condition, and they are heavily guarded. Outside the city proper is a borgo, where a great number of people live, and there are the taverns and the inns.

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1403

Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo

Title Author Motive Date Stay in Greece, Constantinople, Asia Minor Visit to

(Relaci6n de la Embajada de Enrique Ill al Gran Tamorlan?). Spanish nobleman. embassy of king Enrique Ill of Castilia to Timour at Samarcand. 1403-1406.

Winter 1403-1404. Cythera - Archipelago - Troy Constantinople - Athos.

Remarks

Elaborate description of the interior and exterior of several churches and monasteries in Constantinople.

Text

in various MSS, dating from the 15th century and later. - C.R. Markham, Narrative of the

Editions

Embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the Court of Timour at Samarcand~ A.D. 1403-6~ London, 1859. *G. Le Strange,Embassy to Tamerlane~ London, 1928. F. Lopez Estrada, Madrid, 1943.

Embajada a

Tamorlan~

Cerigo: Paris and Helen: On Saturday, they were off Cape Matapan, and Cape St. Angelo, which are on a territory belonging to Venice; and at noon they passed close to an inhabited island called Cetul, 1 between it and a high rock called Lobo. 2 On this island of Cetul they saw a small castle, with high towers, on a lofty rock facing the sea. A little further on, in a plain near the sea, there appeared a great mass of ruins; and they say that this is the temple which Paris destroyed, when he seized upon Helen, and broke the idol, at the time that king Priam sent him to make war upon Greece. After passing this island, the vessel sailed between three rocks called Tres, Dos, and As. 1 2

Cerigo Ovo

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Rhodes: This city of Rhodes is not very large; it is built on a plain near the sea, and it has a large castle, which is partly without, and partly within the city. Here is the palace of the grand master, and of his friars, and also a convent, and a beautiful church, and a great hospital for the sick. The £riars are not allowed to go abroad, without permission from their superior. The harbour of this city is large, and well guarded from the walls, and it has two very fine moles, which enter the sea. On one of these moles there are fourteen windmills; and outside the town there are many houses, and very beautiful fruit gardens, and many citron, and lime, and lemon, and other fruit trees. The people of this city and island are Greeks, and most of them belong to the Greek church. The city is a great mart for merchandize, which comes from many countries; for no ships go to Alexandria, or Jerusalem, or Syria, without touching at this island; and the land of Turkey is so near that it can be clearly seen; and on the island there are other towns and castles, besides the city.

Mytilene - Lesbos: The town of Metellin is built on a high hill near the sea, and is surrounded by a wall with many towers; and outside there is a large suburb. This island is three hundred miles round, and contains several villages and castles, and there are many gardens and vineyards in the neighbourhood of the city. Near the town there have been very large houses and churches, and it would seem that, in former days, the island was thickly populated; and at one end of the city, in a plain near the fountains and gardens, there are the ruins of great palaces, and in the middle of the ruins there are about forty blocks of white marble; - they say that on the top of those blocks of marble, there was once a platform, where those of the city met in council. The people of this island are Greeks, and were formerly subject to the empire of Constantinople; but they are now under a Genoese named Juan de Catalus, whose father married a daughter of the emperor.

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Troy: So they anchored between the land of Turkey and the said island of Tenio, in a Strait, near which stood the great city of Troy. From this place they saw the edifices of Troy, with parts of the wall, having doors at intervals, and towers, and other buildings like castles. It is built in a plain near the sea, and extends towards some high mountains; and at the other side of the city, a high and sharp peak rose up, where it is said that there used to be a castle, called Elion.

Tenedos: The island of Tenio, which is opposite the said city, used to be the port of the city, to which ships resorted. It was occupied by king Priam, who built a great castle on it, called Tenedos, for the defence of the shipping. This island used to be full of inhabitants, but it is now deserted. The boat was sent from the ship to procure water and wood, and some of the attendants of the embassy went to see the island, and found many vineyards and fruit trees, and game such as partridges and rabbits, and the ruins of a great castle.

Monasteries on Mount Athos: And from the said island of Tenio they could see a very high mountain called Monteston, which is in the land of Greece, and where there is a monastery of Greek monks, who lead very holy lives, and will not allow a woman, nor a dog, nor a cat, nor any tame thing which has young, to come near them: and they do not eat meat. This monastery is very rich, and they say that it is two days journey from the foot of the mountain to the summit, where the monastery stands; and, besides this one, there are fifty or sixty monasteries, where the monks all dress in black, and do not drink wine, nor eat meat, nor oil, nor fish, with blood; and these things were related by some Greeks who were in the said ship, who had lived some time on that holy mountain.

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Arrival at Constantinople (October 28, 1403); request to the emperor for a guided tour through the city: On Tuesday, the 30th of October, the ambassadors sent to the emperor to say that, as they were desirous of seeing the city, and the churches and relics which it contained, they hoped that he would graciously order them to be shown; and the emperor directed his son-in-law, a Genoese named Ilario, who was married to one of his illegi.timate daughters, to accompany them, and show them what they wanted.

Church of St. John Baptist in Petra: The first thing they went to see, was the church of St. John the Baptist, which they call St. John of the stone, and which is near the emperor's palace. On the top of the first doorway of this church there was a very rich figure of St. John, well designed in mosaic; and near this doorway there was a lofty capital, 3 raised on four arches; and the roof and walls are covered with beautiful images and figures in mosaic. This mosaic work is made of very small stones, which are covered with fine gilt, and blue, white, green, or red enamel, according to the colour which is required to depict the figures, so that this work is very marvellous to behold. Beyond this place there is a great court, surrounded by houses, and containing many cypress trees: and opposite the door into the body of the church there is a beautiful fountain, under a canopy raised upon eight white marble pillars, and the pipe of the fountain is of white stone. The body of the church is very lofty, and near the entrance there are three small chapels, each containing an altar, and the door of the centre chapel is plated with silver; and by the side of the door there are four marble columns inlaid with small jaspers, and silver crosses, and precious stones: and there are curtains of silk across these doors, placed there that the priest may not be seen when he goes in to say mass. The roof is very rich, and inlaid with mosaics. On the roof of the body of the church there is a figure of God the Father; and the walls are inlaid 3

cupola

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in the same manner nearly to the ground; and the floor is enriched with jaspers. The chapel was surrounded by seats of carved wood, and between each chair there was a brazier with ashes, into which the people spit, that they may not spit on the ground; and there are many lamps of silver and of glass.

Church of Mary Peribleptos: The same day they went to see another.church called Peribelico, dedicated to St. Mary. At the entrance to this church there is a great court, containing many cypresses, walnut trees, elms, and other trees. The outer walls of the church are covered with images and other figures, in gold, blue, and other colours. On the left hand side of the entrance to the church there are many figures, and amongst them an image of St. Mary, with one of the emperor and another of the empress on each side. At the feet of the image of St. Mary there are representations of thirty castles and cities, with the names of Grecian cities written under them. They say that these cities and castles formerly belonged to this church, having been given by an emperor called Romanus, who lies interred here. At the feet of the image there were certain documents written in steel, and sealed with seals of wax and lead, which described the privileges enjoyed by this church over those cities and castles. There are five altars in the body of the church; which is very large and lofty, supported on pillars of various coloured marble, and the walls and floor are inlaid with jasper; and the ceiling is inlaid with very rich mosaics. On the left hand side, at the end of the church, there is a handsome stone monument, where the body of the emperor Romanus is interred: they said that this monument was formerly covered with gold and precious stones, but that when the Latins captured this city, ninety years ago, they plundered this tomb. In this church there is another great stone tomb, in which another emperor is interred, and this church also contains the other arm of the blessed St. John the Baptist, which was shown to the ambassadors.

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(legend about the relics of St. John Baptist) Peribleptos monastery: Outside the church there is a cloister, where there are many beautiful representations of history, among which is the root of Jesse, showing the lineage whence came the blessed Virgin Mary. It was figured in mosaic; and was so wonderful, so rich, and so well drawn, that it surpassed all the other works. There are many monks belonging to the church, who showed the above things to the ambassadors; and also took them into a very large and lofty refectory, in the midst of which there was a table of white marble, very well made, being thirty-five paZmos long, and the floor was of marble flags. At the end of this refectory there were two small tables of white marble, and the ceiling was covered with mosaic work; and on the walls pictures were represented in mosaic work, from the salutation of the blessed Virgin Mary by St. Gab+iel, to the birth of Jesus Christ our God, together with his journeys with his disciples, and all his blessed life, until he was crucified. In this refectory there were many flag stones, made to place meat and other food upon; and in the monastery there were many cells, where the monks live; and gardens, and water, and vineyards, so that this monastery is like a large town.

Monastery of St. John Stoudios: On the same day the ambassadors visited another church called St. John, to which a monastery is attached. The first part of the church is very lofty and richly adorned, and beyond it there is a courtyard, leading to the body of the church, which is round, and surrounded by three great naves, all under one roof. It contains seven altars, and the ceiling is covered with rich mosaic, representing many historical events; and the body of the church is surrounded by twenty-four marble pillars of green jasper, and the naves have the same number of pillars. The walls are adorned with mosaics; and beyond the body of the church there is a beautiful chapel, embellished with mosaics of marvellous workmanship, and containing a figure of the holy Mary, for whose service this chapel was built. The monastery contains a large refectory, with a white marble table; and on the walls there are mosaics representing the last supper, in which our Lord Jesus Christ is seated at a table with his

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disciples, and this monastery contains houses, gardens, fountains, and many other things.

Hippodrome: On another day the ambassadors went to see a plain called the Hippodrome, where they joust. It is surrounded by white marble pillars, so large that three men can only just span round them, and their height is two lances. They are thirty-seven in number, fixed in very large white marble bases; and above, they were connected by arches going from on to the other, so that a man can walk all round, on the top of them; and there are battlements, breast high, of white marble, and these are made for ladies, and maidens, and noble woman, when they view the jousts and tournaments which are celebrated here. In front of these seats, there is a row of pillars, on which is a high seat, raised on four marble pillars, surrounded by other seats, and at each corner there are four images of white marble, the size of a man; and the emperor is accustomed to sit here, when he views the tournaments. Obelisk of Theodosius: Near these pillars, there are two blocks of white marble, one on the top of the other, of great size, each one being the height of a lance, or more; and on the top of these blocks there are four square blocks of copper. On the top of these blocks there is an immense stone, sharp at the end, at least six lances in height. It is not fixed in any way; so that it was marvellous to think how so great a mass of stone, yet so sharp and fine, could have been placed there. It is so high that it may be seen above the city, from the sea. This column has been placed there in memory of some great event; and on the base there is an inscription, announcing who it was who caused this stone to be placed there, and for what reason; but as the writing was in Greek, and it was getting late, the ambassadors could not wait to have it read to them. But they say that it was raised to commemorate some great deed. Beyond it the range of columns continues, though they are not so high as the first, and the deeds of the knights are painted on them;

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Serpentine column: And between these columns there are three copper figures of serpents. They are twisted like a rope, and they have three heads, with open mouths. It is said that these figures of serpents were put here, on account of an enchantment which was effected. The city used to be infested by many serpents, and other evil animals, which killed and poisoned men; but an emperor performed an enchantment over these figures, and serpents have never done any harm to the people of the city, since that time. The plain is very large, and is surrounded by steps, one rising above the other to a considerable height; and these steps are made for the people of the city; and below them there are great houses, with doors opening on the plain, where the knights who are going to joust are accustomed to arm and disarm.

Hagia Sophia; exterior: On the same day the ambassadors went to see the church which is called St. Sophia, which is the largest, most honoured, and most privileged of all the churches in the city; and it has canons who do duty as if it was a cathedral, and a patriarch, whom the Greeks call MarpoZZit.

Palace built on columns: In a court, in front of the church, there are nine very large white marble pillars, the largest I ever beheld, and it is said that a great palace used to stand on the top of them, where the patriarch and his clergy held their meetings.

Statue of Justinian I: In this same court, in front of the church, a wonderfully high stone column stands, on the top of which there is a horse made of copper, of the size of four large horses put together; and on its back there is the figure of an armed knight, also of copper, with a great plume on his head, resembling the tail of a peacock. The horse has chains of iron

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round its body, secured to the column, to prevent it from falling, or being moved by the wind. This horse is very well made, and one fore and one hind leg is raised, as if it was in the act of prancing. The knight, on its back, has his right arm raised, with the hand open, while the reins are held with the left arm. This column, horse, and knight, are so large and high, that it is wonderful to see them. This marvellous horse is said to have been placed here by the Emperor Justinian, who erected the column, and performed great and notable deeds against the Turks, in his time.

Hagia Sophia: interior: At the entrance to this church, under an arch, there is a small but very rich and beautiful chapel, raised upon four marble columns; and opposite this chapel is the door of the church. It is very large and high, and covered with brass, and in front of it there is a small court, containing some high terraces;~ beyond which there is another door covered with brass, like the first. Within this door there is a broad and lofty nave, with a ceiling of wood, and on the left hand there are very large and well built cloisters, 5 adorned with slabs of marble and jasper of various colours. The body of the church contains five lofty doors, all covered with brass, and the centre one is the largest. The body of the church is the loftiest, most rich , and most beautiful that can be seen in the whole world. It is surrounded by three large and broad naves, which are joined to it, so that mass may be heard in all parts of the church. The arches of the naves are of green jasper, and unite the roofs of the nave with that of the body of the church; but the summit of the latter rises much higher than that of the naves. It is dome shaped, and very high, so that a man must have good eyes who looks up from beneath; and the church is one hundred and five paces long, by ninety-three broad; and the dome is supported by four pillars, very large and thick, covered with flags of many coloured jaspers; and from pillar to pillar there are arches of green jasper, which are very high and sustain the dome. In the arches there are four very large slabs, two on the right hand and two on the ~

5

galleries of the horologium? atrium

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left, which are coloured with a substance made from a powder, artificially, and called porphyry.

Hagia Sophia: dome: The dome is covered with very rich mosaic work, and, over the high altar, the image of God the Father, very large, is wrought in mosaics of many colours; but it is so high up, that is only looks about the size of a man, or a little larger, though really it is so large that i t measures three palmos between the eyes; but to him who looks at it, it does not appear to be more nor less than a man, and that is owing to the very great height it is placed above the ground.

Hagia Sophia: ambo: On the floor, in the centre of the part under the dome, there is a pulpit placed on four columns of jasper; and the sides of it are covered with flags of jasper; and this pulpit is surmounted by a capital, raised on eight very large jasper columns; and here they preach, and also say the gospel on feast days. The walls and floor of the church are lined with flags of jasper, worked all over with ornaments, very beautiful to behold. The part between the arches, which supports the dome, was of very handsome white stone, on which many appropriate figures were inlaid, and above that there was very rich mosaic. The arched roofs of the naves surrounded the dome, except where the high altar stood, all which was worth seeing. The said arched roofs were ninety paces broad, and four hundred and ten paces round, and they were beautifully inlaid with mosaics.

Hagia Sophia: cistern: And in the church of St. Sophia there are vaults and cisterns, and subterranean chambers, which are strange things, wonderful to see. Near the church there are many fallen edifices, and doors leading to the church, closed and ruined. In the church there is a very large cistern under ground,

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capable of floating ten galleys. All these works, and many others in this church, were shown, so that they can neither be related nor written briefly; and so great is the edifice, and the wonderful works in the church are so numerous, that they take a long time to see. The roofs are all covered with lead. This church is privileged, and any person, either Greek or of any other nation, who commits a crime, either of robbery or murder, and take refuge here, may not be taken hence.

St. Georgius in Mangana church: On the same day the ambassadors went to see another church, called St. George; in which, after passing the first gate, there is a large court, in which there are many houses and fruit gardens, and the body of the church is in the midst of these gardens. Opposite the church door, outside, there is a large and beautiful font, over which there is a canopy 6 supported by eight marble pillars, inlaid with many figures. The body of the church is very high, and is all covered with mosaic work, and the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ is here represented. The floor of this church is wonderfully made, for it is covered with flags of porphyry and jasper; and the walls are of the same material. In the centre of the roof is a figure of God the Father, in mosaic work; and over the door there is figured the true cross, which an angel showed to the apostles from the clouds of heaven, when the Holy Spirit descended upon them in a flame of fire. It is wonderfully made, in mosaic work. In this church there is a large tomb made of jasper, and covered with a silken cloth, where an empress lies buried.

St. Mary of Blachernae church: They then mounted on horseback, and went to see a church called "Santa Maria de la Cherne," which is within the city, and opposite to a ruined castle, which used to be a lodging, used by the emperors. 7 The said castle was destroyed by an em6

7

cupola Anemon tower

prison

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peror, because he found his son in it, in a manner that will be related to you presently. This church of "Santa Maria de la Cherne" used to be a chapel of the emperor's, and the interior consists of three naves, the centre one being the largest and most lofty, and the other two being lower. They are vaulted, and the arches connect them together. These naves are adorned in the following manner. They are raised on great pillars of green jasper, and their bases are of white marble, inlaid with many figures. The ceilings and the walls, half way up, are covered with flags of jasper of many colours, with many figures and beautiful works artificially wrought upon them. The ceiling of the centre nave is very rich, made of timber in squares and beams, all gilded with very fine gold; and though parts of the church were much out of repair, this gilded ceiling looked as fresh and as beautiful as if it was just finished. In the centre nave there was a rich altar and a pulpit, also very rich; and all the furniture of the church is very rich and costly, and the roof was all covered with lead.

St. Maria Hodegetria: icon painted by St. Luke: In this city of Constantinople there is also a church "Santa Maria de la Dessetria"; it is small, and some religious canons live in it, who neither eat meat, nor drink wine, nor eat grease, nor fish containing blood. The body of the church is inlaid with very beautiful mosaic work, and contains an image of the holy Mary, which is said to have been designed and made by the hands of the glorious and blessed St. Luke. (weekly procession with the icon on Tuesday).

Cistern (of Philoxenus near the Hippodrome?): In this city there is a cistern, very beautiful to behold, which they call the cistern of Mohammed. This cistern is vaulted with cement, and paved with marble, and the ceiling is raised upon four hundred and ninety very large pillars; and here they are accustomed to collect a great volume of water, which suffices for many people.

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Aspect of the city: The city of Constantinople is surrounded by a high and strong wall, with towers. The wall has three angles, and from angle to angle there is a distance of six miles, so that the whole city is eighteen miles in circumference, which is six leagues; two sides facing the sea, and one facing the land. At the angle which does not face the sea, on a hill, are the palaces of the emperor.

Population: Though the city is so large, it is not all well peopled, for in the middle of it there are many enclosures, where there are corn fields, and fruit gardens. The most populous part is near the sea; and the greatest traffic is from the city, by the gates which open on the sea, especially the gates leading to the city of Pera, on account of the ships which go there to unload; and because those of both cities pass from the one to the other, with their merchandise.

Decay and many ruins 1n the city: This city of Constantinople contains many great churches and monasteries, but most of them are in ruins; though it seems clear that, in former times, when the city was in its youth, it was the most renowned city in the world. They say that even now there are three thousand churches, large and small; and within the city there are fountains and wells of sweet water;

Water supply: Aqueduct of Valens: And in a part below the church which is dedicated to the Holy Apostle, there is a bridge reaching from one valley to another, over houses and gardens, by which water used to come, for the irrigation of those gardens.

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Constantinople - Pera, compared with Sevilla Triana: The city of Constantinople is near the sea, as you have been told, and two sides face the sea; and in front is the city of Pera. Between the two cities is the port, and Constantinople is thus like Seville, and Pera is like Triana, with the port and the ships between them; and the Greeks do not call it Constantinople as we do, but Escomboli.

Per a: Pera is a small city, but well peopled and surrounded with a wall, and it contains good and handsome houses. It is inhabited by Genoese, and is a lordship of Genoa. It is peopled by Genoese and Greeks, and is so close to the sea, that between the wall and the water there is not sufficient breadth for a carrack to pass. The wall runs along the shore, and then ascends a hill, on the top of which there is a great tower, whence the city is watched. This hill, however, is not so high as another outside the town, which rises above it; and on that eminence the Turk encamped when he besieged Pera and Constantinople, and here they fought, and hurled missiles from engines. The Turk twice assaulted the city, and blockaded it by sea and land for six months, with four hundred thousand men on land, and sixty galleons and ships by sea; but they were unable to enter, nor even to occupy a suburb, so that it seems that the Turks are not good combatants, as they could not enter.

Harbour in the Golden Horn: The sea between Pera and Constantinople is narrow, not being more than a mile across, which is the third of a league; and this sea serves as the port for both cities; and I hold it to be the best and most beautiful in the world, and the most secure from all winds. Vessels lying in it are also secure from enemies, who cannot enter if both cities are of one mind. It is very deep and clear, so that the largest ship can come close to the walls, and place a gangboard to the shore.

637

NOMPAR II, SEIGNEUR DE CAU.MONT

1418-1419

1

Nompar II, seigneur de Caumont.

Author Motive Date Stay in Greece Visit to

Voyaige d'Oultremer en Jherusalem par le Seigneur de Caumont. French noble from Caumont (Gascogne). pilgrimage to Jerusalem. 1418-1419. 1418. Cythera - Crete Rhodes.

Remarks

Candia: Labyrinth

Text Edition

2 MSS. in Perigieux and London. De la Grange, Voyaige d'Oultremer

Title

cipte de Troye.

Jherusalem par le Seigneur de

en

Caumont~

Paris, 1858 (reprint Geneva, 1975).

Cythera: Helen,

temple of Venus:

Et de cest pais fut entiquemant seigneur le roi Menelaus, mary de le belle royne de Gresse qui avoit a nom Heleyne, lequelle par force s'en apourta Paris en Troye. Item, dudit chief de Saint Angel jusques a la ylle de Setvill: x. milles, lequel antiquemant fut nonpmee Sitaree, dans lequel ylle est le temple de la deesse Venus, ont la dessus ditte Helleyne estoit vennue fere oreison ou sacriffice, quant ledit Paris la prist et lass'enmena, comme dessus est dit.

Candia: Jupiter-Saturnus -Minas - Minotaurus; labyrinth = cite de Troye: Item, au partant de laditte ylle du Sequillo ha .XXX. milles, trouvey le grant ylle de Candie que huy est jus le seignorie des Venessiens, lequel entiquemant fut appellee le ille de Cret, et pour ceste raison est ainssi appellee le guolf de Cret; et furent seigneurs et rois entiquemant de ceste, Saturnus et Jupiter, et les deesses Venus et Juno qui fut suer et fama de Jupiter, lesquelles antiquemant les gentils colloient pour Dieux; et de leditte ylle fut roy ycelluy just et doeturier Minus qui en son temps ne apres, en

638

NOMPAR II, SEIGNEUR DE CAUMONT

exerssisse de justice ne eut per; de le moitte duquel fu nee a celle merveilleuse et orrible best qui fut appelle Minotaur, qui fut enfermee et enclouse dens celle entrigade meson faite par Dedelus, merveilleux maquanit, lequelle meson fut nommee Lebarinte et aujourduy par moultz est vulguelmant appelle le cipte de Troie: en lequel meson estoient condampnes a etre mis les jeunes filz des Hetenesiens, par vengance de le mort des Endrogeux, filz dudit roy Minus, jusques tant que, par le sort, y fut tramis le proux et vaillant Tezeu, fils de Egeu roy de Attenes, condampne a estre devore par ledit Minotaur, lequel Tezeu, par consseil et ajude de Adriane, fille dudit roy Minus, oussit ledit Minotaur et eschapa du perill de leditte meson Labarinte.

Colchis,island in the v~c~nity of Tarsus; tradition of the Golden Fleece: lequel cite de Tersson se tient aujour d'uy par le roy de Chypre; davant lequel ha une ille qui s'appelle Colquos ou demouroit le monton en le leyne d'or que conquesta Jeson, roy de Tessalie.

Rhodes: strong fortification; windmills near the harbour: Item, dudit chasteau de Fer et d'Au a la cipte de Roddes: XXV. milles; ou je fuy de retour au moys d'aust, le .xviije. jour, et hy demouray presque de deux moys. Cette cipte est en une ille bien grande et complie de toux biens; et y a de belles fortalesses qui sont bien guardees pour gens autres que Grecxs; et aussi faut il mester, pour chouse du pays de le Turquie qui confronte avec le ditte ille, chiere pour chiere, de le ditte cipte de Roddes, ou il n'a que ung poy de travers de mer; a lequelle cipte le mer bat au pie dez murs, et droit ant les nefs prendent port ha une grant chaussee faite de grans pierres de massonerie cranellee aus bars, qui se tient en lemur de le cipte et entre dedens le mer bien .iiij. tretz de dart; et tout au lone d'icelle sont assis . . XVI. molis de vent, toux d' un ranc, qui nuyt et jour molent yver et este; et a paynes l'on les voit toux ensemble molir he toux a ung cop cesser.

NOMPAR II, SEIGNEUR DE CAUMONT

639

Rhodes: old city on the Philerimos mountain: Item, de Roddes je me levay ung bon matin et m'en alay pour terre a une haulte montaigne qui est pres de leditte cipte .V. milles, que l'on appelle le puy de Philermo, ou jadis solloit estre le cipte de Roddes hediffiee; et en ceu tamps se solloit apeler Colossensses, ou saint Paul feysoie les epistoles, et c'est une place moult avantatjose mes est tout despasti fors que d'un chasteau qui est sur l'entree de le venue.

640

1414-1422

CRISTOFORO BUONDELMONTI

Cristoforo Buondelmonti

Title Author Motive Date Stay in Greece, Constantinople, Asia Minor

a. Descriptio Insulae Cretae. b. Liber Insularum Archipelagi. Florentine priest. geographical studies, including the drawing of maps. 1414-1422 or later.

1414-1422 or later.

Remarks

- Elaborate description of Crete including many old traditions - description of many islands of the Archipelago. - description of Constantinople.

Text

- long and short version of the Descriptio Insulae Cretae. - long and short version of the Liber Insularum Archipelagi. (see the chapter on geographers, Buondelmonti). - Fl. Cornelio, Creta sacra sive de

Editions

Episcopis utriusque ritus Graeci et Latini in insulae Cretae~ Venice, 1755, pp. 1-18 (short version) and pp. 77-109 (long version). - G.L.R. de Sinner, Christoph

Bondelmontii Florentini Liber Insularum Archipelagi~ Leipzig-Berlin, 1824. -E. Legrand,

Description des tles de l'Archipel par Christophe Buondelmonti~

Paris, 1897. (This book contains also the text of the Descriptio Insulae Cretae).

BUONDELMONTI; DESCRIPTIO

641

Short vers1.on:

Long vers1.on:

Hierapolis (Hierapetra):

Hierapetra:

Next along the coast is Hierapolis, now called Girapetra; it is a place with a very great number of ruins and broken columns. In the vicinity there used to be a harbour, which due to its great age and the action of the sea is completely filled in, and people plough it.

... a city which lay on the coast, with a very great number of buildings and columns. Alas, I counted immense buildings and temples within the wide area, and eagerly noted the busts of statues strewn far and wide.

Anatospolis: Here you will find the old city of Anatospolis, all traces of which. have vanished, were it not that you can still see great brick temples. Here you will not find masses of marble blocks, but I express my praise for the foundations, made from great blocks of rock.

Pergamea: ... and all around we see all sorts of buildings mingled together between the roots of the trees.

Calolimiona - Lapsea:

Calolimiona - Lapsea:

••• and in the vicinity of Calolimiona there are the ruins of houses, and up on high ground a small town called Lapsea, which is surrounded by steep mountains. In this place there was a ruined temple with the statue of a god.

and round about I found very large houses, which had fallen down, lying about. Nearly, on high ground, lay the little place of Lapsea, which is surrounded by steep mountains, and on one protruding side one could see a temple standing among the columns.

Matala:

Matala:

... and in the neighbourhood I saw the ruins of a temple, lies Matal·a, a place which is from which a well preserved completely ruined, and full of mosaic floor could be seen.

642

BUONDELMONTI; DESCRIPTIO

statues, columns and lumps of marble.

Nicholas, observe the graves hacked out of the rocks and the wonderful sculptures; fields of grain cover the buildings, and great marble blocks lie about at random.

Lineus plain:

Lineus plain:

To the side of this plain one can see a temple of Diana, which is not completely in ruins.

... until one sees a great temple in the field.

Calenus:

Calenus:

... which showed in the distance Behind the plain is a steep rock, on which formerly an aqueduct descending, and Succeta stood; now this place columns in stone of all different is called by the monks Calenus,colours. and there are still columns in various colours to be seen, Career of Daedalus: and an aqueduct. Before the island of Pacximadi comes into sight on the left, there lay, so it is said, the career of Icarus and Daedalus, where at the present time remains of the walls of that prison can still be seen. Sfichium:

Sfichium:

... in the other corner is a bay of the sea; there can be seen the very old town of Sfichium, completely delapidated; farmers live, without any walls, in a part of this place.

... where I found, among other cities, the extremely old city of Sfichium; when I saw it I wept not a little, at seeing this place deserted. Alas, how unhappy are mortal men; they do their best to raise great mountains, to fix pieces of marble together and so build up blocks of rock. Everything decays to nothing and is like the fame that fades within an hour.

BUONDELMONTI; DESCRIPTIO

643

Anapolis:

Anapolis:

(mountains) in the middle of which, near the plain, lies Polirenia, now called Anapolis. From there a splendid spring flows, in the midst of great blocks of marble lying on the ground.

I praised the magnificent water well, with large blocks of marble on the ground around it.

Lutro:

Lutro:

In the neighbourhood is found a very old, decayed city with columns, and tombs made of white marble, and a number of statues.

As we saw that, we arrived in the harbour of what was formerly called Phenix, but now Lutro, and we saw a very old city in ruins, with columns lying on the ground. In between them I found graves of snow-white marble, near the little huts of the farmers, in which the swine eat their food; they throw magnificent pieces of sculpture to the ground round about. I saw there many damaged busts of statues in between the marble buildings. I left the place after seeing immensely large catacombs, and set off inland towards open fields, where I found remains of the old roman nobility; they take pleasure in preserving the inscriptions and arms marked on them, right to the present day.

Sanctus Romelus, the port of Phenix:

Romelus (near Phenix).

In this deserted town marble and porphyry columns are strewn about everywhere, and a decayed temple can be seen there with the remains of statues of gods, and a piece

Very weary, we came next to the boundaries of a large city, in the middle of which I saw a gigantic temple lying in ruins. All sorts of marble and pillars of porphyry lay there, mixed to-

644

BUONDELMONTI; DESCRIPTIO

of stone on which was chiselled in Greek letters: 'wipe your feet, cover your head and enter'.

gether in disarray. I saw busts of statues without heads, and on the other side of the temple I found a statue of Venus or Diana that I considered the most magnificent of all. I turned round in a certain direction and on the evidence of a tremendous block of marble we lifted up stones lying round about. We saw on them extremely weather-worn Greek letters, and then we tried to read them, but alas; the piece of stone was cracked. By conjecture I could make out the following: 'wipe your feet, cover your head and enter'. Columns, cisterns and large buildings are everywhere to be seen. The famous apostle Paul stayed here, when he was taken to Rome with other Christians.

Phelinus:

Selinus:

Outside it Fecilasium used to be situated, the present-day Phelinus, where very large and well-made foundations are to be seen, and large harbour constructions.

We admired this great mass, the colossal and artistic foundations; finally we admired an aqueduct and the gigantic harbour buildings.

Kissamos:

Kissamos:

(the very old harbour) where at a distance of half a mile the old white city of Chissamospolis can be seen, in the middle of which is a very rich spring, which supplies fresh water. There is a palace to be seen with a number of columns, all practically fallen to the

From far off we saw in the middle the white fort of ancient Chissamospolis. And when we were there (in the middle of the city near the fountain) I saw a magnificent palace with a number of columns lying in almost complete ruins, and as we left I counted the marble sheets. You see, my guide said to me, that

BUONDELMONTI; DESCRIPTIO

645

ground, and nearby is the river Tiflon with an old stone bridge.

the river Tiflo has an old stone bridge; in former times the river washed the whole city.

Nova ecclesia:

Nova ecclesia (Rhokka):

And when one goes further south across the middle of the island, one finds there Nova ecclesia, in which old porphyry and marble columns are kept.

We left there, and crossing the middle of the island towards the south we came to a place which is now called Nova ecclesia. When we entered it, he said: 'Look at the pavement and see a mosaic that after so many centuries has never been damaged by rain or by moisture from the ground; it covers the whole of this vineyard, with all those many buildings of marble and porphyry but because such things are not necessary to us the farmer will not allow his fruitful vines to be destroyed, because they bring him great profit'.

Portus Salinae (Suda):

Suda:

... and nearby, 2 miles to the south on a mountain, stands the very old city of Minoa; this is deserted, having only fragments of marble and a few cisterns, one of which is 45 feet long and 18 feet wide.

Near Salinae, as it is called, on a mountain to the south we saw the ancient Minoa. I go there, a distance of 2 miles up to the top, and there I find the city, in ruins. I walk about in the city, through the undergrowth, and in the middle I turn over some large marble blocks. I see temples and get tired of counting walls, and as I was making my way through impenetrable bushes I landed without noticing, in a cistern many metres deep. Alas, my hands fell into the depths, and my limbs became stiff with fright, until I could regain my former position. After that I had a look at these cisterns carved out of

646

BUONDELMONTI; DESCRIPTIO

the rocks, one of which was certainly 45 feet long and 18 feet wide. Pantomatrion:

Pantomatrion:

You come to a high mountain, where in former times the city of Pantomatrion stood, in which a cistern and delapidated temples can be seen, as well as a large monument of Amerinus who was killed when together with his brother Chirfoca he attacked this city.

And as we were cheerfully crossing this road we saw on a high mountain to the west the former city of Pantomatrion. By long and roundabout paths we climbed up, and there in the city we found two large cisterns with columns, cut out of the rock; they are now overgrown with trees. Round about we found low walls and next to a temple I saw a magnificent monument, about which my guide told me the following: (tale of Amerinus and Chirfoca).

Candia:

Candia:

But when you go down to the south, across the gently rolling hills, you come to what was formerly the very large and very ancient city of Philopolis, the presentday Macritico; at that place there is still a mosaic floor with many figures, and there too, so it is said, is the grave of Caiaphas. A mile further inside the city stands a very old temple, built according to Christian rites, and there the teaching of Titus is held in honour. Three miles to the north, however, on the right of the road to Mount Jurte, is a cave, with a small opening in the rock; it is 42 paces long, and

Next we walked southward through that area, until by way of low hills we reached the very large city of ancient Philopolis, the present day Macritichon. This city stands alongside a river, and near gardens and parks, and there I found by chance under a large amount of rubbish, an undamaged mosaic floor with all sorts of figures, and to the right we found what is said to be the tomb of Caiaphas. A mile further into the town we saw a very old temple built according to the Christian rite, and before that we did honour to Veneranda, the disciple of Titus. To the south, among estates and pleasant hills, close to the road one can see a cave in the

BUONDELMONTI; DESCRIPTIO

647

only 4 paces wide. At the back of this cave is the tomb of the great Jupiter, with the letters worn away. This cave was made in the extremely hard stone, without any figurative decoration. Above it there was a tumulus, and all round were large buildings, over an area of a quarter of a mile in each direction. At the present time much corn grows in the whole area and there are many meadows.

hacked-out rock, 42 paces long and 4 paces wide. At the back of it we saw the grave of Jupiter, with an epitaph which was so worn that we could hardly make out a single letter of it. But because I noticed that it was told just like this all over the island it was not difficult to believe it all. Above this same grave were large buildings in which corn was kept.

Jurta mons:

Jouktas mons:

Seen from a distance this mountain is shaped like a face, on the forehead of which one can see the temple of Jupiter, which is decayed right down to its foundations.

From a distance this mountain has the shape of a face. On the forehead I visited a temple of Jupiter, ruined down to the foundations, and in the surroundings we found an endless number of large blocks which lay there in rows. Our opinion is that the maker of these was no human being.

Dia (island):

Dia:

on which, on the north side next to the sea there are marble buildings, lying in ruins.

We left the deserted, stony, unbuilt on island of Dia, to our left; on its north side, near the sea, I noticed marble buildings spread over a wide area.

Chersonesos:

Chersonesos:

(the city of Elados), near which lies the city of Chersonesos, surrounded by a fertile plain. In this city one sees old palatia, and buildings with pillars, and

Not far from there we visited Chersonesus, formerly a very big place surrounded by an exceptionally fertile plain, and there I saw old 'palatia' and buildings with columns and a

648

BUONDELMONTI; DESCRIPTIO

a magnificent harbour, destroy-harbour which was laid out, but ed by age, and large aqueducts.decayed with age. From the high mountains they used to take water to the city through pipes which irrigated the whole city.

Molopiexepolis (Spinalonga):

Olopicxopolis:

Moreover there were columns and delapidated marble buildings, which showed that formerly the city was very large and important.

And this appears to be overgrown now with vegetation and herbs. I saw nothing else in the whole area than columns and marble buildings.

Camara:

Camara:

... a plain, in the middle of which at the foot of a small mountain, lay the city of Camara, which has a stream in the curve on the south side. Marble buildings from this city lie there on the ground.

And we saw a closely cultivated plain in the middle of which under a small hill, was the city of Camara; it lay in ruins in a certain corner on the south side, and a stream flowed through it. My companions leave the estates and the great marble buildings behind, and we set off through the high mountains, fragrant with thymes, for ....

Myrina:

Mirina:

And nearby one sees on an extremely fertile plain, the city of Pidiata. Further to the east, in a valley, lives a noble gentleman called Nicholas; he has had a garden laid out there which is like paradise, with many old marble sculptures.

Near (the city of Pidiata), to the east, in a pleasant valley, I came upon a magnificent garden in which a lovely country house stands, next to a hill. In it lives a certain nobleman called Nicholas; he leads a completely solitary life, without any descendants. He himself derives his pleasure from Latin writings, and sometimes he takes Dante in his hands. Out of the mouth of one of the marble figures of a human being streams living water.

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649

To the right and left the fathers have placed a head of Marc Anthony and Pompey, and there I saw many beautiful pieces of marble which had been taken there from other buildings. Gortyn:

Gortyn:

There is also a mountain there separated from the other, with a royal palace next to a river on the north side. A water conduit coming from the highland sprinkled the entire city, which can be compared in size with Florence, but which had no walls. In the middle of the city stands a very high temple, with brick walls. Close by, between the palace and the temple, there used to be a remarkable church of Titus, a disciple of the apostle Paul, who came from Minas. Traces of this church are left, with the body of the saint, which, however, I was not able to find. The river had a bridge of amazing size, like a great city square. Spread about the city there are various busts of idols and of saints. Alongside the river there are now windmills. Between the houses one sees marble columns on all sides, either standing, or lying on the ground.

To the side of the mountain I found the largest city and metropolis on the whole island, Gortyn, where the famous, very just king Minas gave judgement. Alas, what shall I say, or what shall I talk about, upon seeing such a situation. Let all Cretans lament such destruction and let their wives, with their hair hanging loose, never tire of rending their garments! There was a mountain standing separate from the others, further north and close to the water, and round it were walls, where an undamaged gate was still to be seen. The Palace of Minas can be seen, its decaying windows wide open, and from there a water conduit descended from the high mountain and then sprinkled the whole city, which is about as big as our Florence, though Gortyn is fuller, and has no walls. In about the middle, between the east and the south there now stood a temple, its walls made of brick. Near the river, towards the north on the side where the temple was, is the church of Titus, the disciple of the apostle Paul, who was descended from Minas. Opposite this you will see a bridge of amazing size, which reaches to the

650

BUONDELMONTI; DESCRIPTIO

square near this church; and to the east you will see two marble busts of the apostles, of an astonishing size. In the same church lies the body of archbishop Titus, and because the whole of this church now lies on the ground, all mixed up, it. cannot be found. In the city, alongside the river, there now stand fine windmills. I counted the marble columns and stones, upright or lying on the ground, and there were 1400 of them; and there were also endless numbers of marble sheets and tombs.

Labyrinth:

Labyrinth:

On the north side, close to what was formerly the very old city of Gnosia, two miles inland, so it is said, is the Labyrinth. The entrance to it is steep; later it gets wider and one path continues eastward for 200 paces; another way going northward is said to have no end. Many paths apparently run into the main path. At a distance of 1100 paces from the entrance there is a spring, and next to it a small lake. It is full of rushes that grow in the waterfilled stone. Beyond this lake a long path can be seen, which nobody, or only few people, dare to go down. Everywhere in the cave live many bats, and it is dangerous walking there because of large stones falling down. And from the the entrance to the cave you come to ...

Two miles inland on the north side, close to the once important city of Gnosia, is the Labyrinth. The entrance to it is narrow, but after that it gets wider; there is a path that goes 200 paces eastwards, another goes north, and it appears to the people there to have no end. Many paths have been found that cross each other, and 1500 paces from the entrance there is a spring, next to which you can find a small pool with rushes round it. On the left you will see an enormous pillar. Behind the spring there is a path, but nobody or only a few people, formerly went along it. Everywhere there are the arms and the names of those who went in there, and there are many bats to be seen. It is extremely dangerous to walk through this labyrinth, for every now and

BUONDELMONTI; DESCRIPTIO

651

then enormous lumps of stone hanging from the ceiling of the passages fall down and often obstruct obviously every passage way. Knowing all this, Nicholas, you must not think that this is, what people believe to be the labyrinth, for the stone taken from this mountain strongly resembles the stone of the ancient city, and as in various parts of this island there are innumerable caves and underground passages from similar quarries to be found, I have sought all over this island for the artificial cave which the ancient authors called the labyrinth, but nowhere I have found it.

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BUONDELMONTI; LIBER INSULARUM

Corfu: Du cote est, jusqu'a Corfou et au dela, en allant vers le nord, s'etend une plaine tres riante et habitee par une population nombreuse. On y voit maintenant encore la ville antique de Corcyre, embellie de sculptures variees et de colonnes de tous styles.

Mons Phalacron, Dodona, ship of Odysseus: On aper9oit, de cette ville, une tres haute montagne appelee Phalacron, du sommet de laquelle on decouvre, dans une plaine, la foret de Dodone. Au pied du mont Phalacron git un ecueil que les anciens disaient ressembler au vaisseau d'Ulysse.

Nicopolis-Actium: Temple of Apollo: Sur la droite, au pied des montagnes, on voit les ruines d'une ville fort ancienne, qui possedait un antique temple d' Apollon. Ayant aborde dans cette localite, le Troyen Enee y laissa ses armes, comme le rapporte Virgile: Mox et Leucatae nimbosa cacumina mantis et formidatus nautis aperitur Apollo, etc.

1

Beaucoup plus tard, Auguste restaura, dit-on, cette ville, y rebatit le temple d'Apollon et la nomma Nicopolis, apres avoir vaincu dans ces parages Antoine et Cleopatre.

Ithaca, Val di Compare: Dirigeons-nous maintenant vers Dulichia, anciennement appelee Ithaque, et nommee aujourd'hui Val di Compare. Entouree de tres hautes montagnes, cette ile est presque entierement improductive et inhabitee; en effet, dans sa partie centrale seulement une plaine exigue renferme quelques arbres et un petit nombre de maisons. Elle possede, en revanche, beaucoup de ports. Sa longueur, du nord au sud, est de trente milles, sa largeur est de trois milles. Ses deux extremites, formees 1

cf. Vergil, Aeneid, Ill, 274-6.

BUONDELMONTI; LIBER INSULARUM

653

par une echancrure, s'avancent comme deux cornes et sont fort dangereuses pour les navigateurs.

Cythera: Statue of Aphrodite: Nous abordons l'ile de Cythere, que tout le monde considere comme etant la premiere de celles qui se trouvent a 1' ouest de l'Archipel. Elle est presque entierement montagneuse. Elle possede une ville forte appelee Cythere, ou l'on rendait a Aphrodite un culte particulier. C'est de cette ville que la deesse et l'ile elle-meme ont tire leur nom. On y voyait une statue d'Aphrodite, sculptee sous les traits d'une jeune fille extremement belle, nageant dans la mer et tenant dans sa main droite une conque marine; elle etait paree de roses et escortee de colombes voletant autour d'elle. Malgre tous ses charmes, Aphrodite epousa Hephaestos, dieu du feu, qui etait grossier et fort laid. Devant elle se tenaient debout trois jouvencelles d'une merveilleuse beaute, appelees les Graces, dont deux la regardaient, tandis que la troisieme lui tournait le dos. Pres d'elle etait Eros, son fils, aile et aveugle, tenant un arc et des fleches, qu'il decochait de loin a Apollon. Irrites de ce mefait, les dieux contraignirent l'enfant, effraye, a chercher un refuge dans le sein de sa mere.

Cythera:Statue of Aphrodite, allegorical explanation:

AZZegorie. La planete nommee Aphrodite (Venus) est de complexion feminine; et, pour cette raison, on la represente sous les traits d'une jeune fille, attendu que la jeune fille possede un temperament plut6t chaud et humide. Mariee a Hephaestos, Aphrodite passe pour aimer la mer, parce que c'est en combinant l'humidite et la chaleur qu'elle enfante Eros, le dieu de l'amour, c'est-a-dire le plaisir charnel; car l'etoile de Venus excite les hommes au coit. Les trois jeunes filles symbolisent trois peches, savoir: !'avarice, qui enseigne la recherche du gain dans l'acte venerien; la luxure, qui enseigne l'oeuvre de chair; enfin, l'infidelite, qui enseigne a se livr~r a l'amour par esprit de lucre. Eros est dit aile, parce qu'il est prompt a survenir et a opf~er l'union sexuelle; aveugle, parce que peu lui chaut l'objet dont il s'eprend.

654

BUONDELMONTI; LIBER INSULARUM

Cythera: Helen

raped by Paris:

C'est de Cythere que Paris, fils de Priam, enleva, avec son consentement, Helene, femme de Menelas. Celle-ci s'etait rendue par hasard, un jour de fete, dans un temple situe pres du rivage et encore reconnaissable aujourd'hui. Quand ils s' aper9urent l'un l'autre, leur beaute respective fut la cause determinante de l'enlevement, lequel amena plus tard une grande calamite. Car tous les chefs des Grecs s'empresserent de se liguer contre les Troyens, dans l'intention de saccager leur ville.

Crete: Hekatonpolis: Cette ile possedait autrefois cent villes; et les fondations de plus de soixante d'entre elles subsistent encore aujourd'hui.

Crete: Tomb of Zeus near Knossos: Etant venue a mourir, il fut enterre pres de la ville d' Avlacra, bien qu'il passe pour avoir ete deifie au ciel. Il y a dans l'ile de Crete une montagne qui parte le nom de ce Jupiter et au pied de laquelle il y a, vers le nord, ainsi que le rapporte Ptolemee, une grotte creusee de main d' homme, entierement blanche, longue de quarante coudees, large de quatre, et ayant un orifice etroit; a l'extremite de cette grotte, nous avons reconnue le tombeau de Jupiter, grace a l' inscription qu' il parte, bien qu' ell.e soi t deja endommagee par le temps. A l'exterieur de cette grotte, on voit les ruines considerables d'un temple.

Hierapolis: ru~ns and temple with inscription: En poursuivant notre route vers le sud, nous apercevons sur le rivage, du cote de l'est, Hierapolis, avec ses nombreux edifices construits en marbres extremement grands et beaux; il y a dans cette ville un temple grandiose sur le fronton duquel on lit en grec cette inscription: "Decouvre ta tete, lave tes pieds et entre".

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Messara-plain, Gortyn: Labyrinth: Au sud, s'etend une vaste plaine, vulgairement appelee Mesarea, vers le centre de laquelle on voit encore aujourd' hui des restes considerables de Gortyne, ville celebre et la principale de toutes celles du roi Minos; elle etait batie avec art et pourvue d'aqueducs qui alimentaient tous ses quartiers. J'y ai compte moi-meme deux mille colonnes et statues renversees par le temps. Comme grandeur, elle est pareille a notre Florence. Au nord, dans la montagne, est le Labyrinthe avec une entree creusee par la nature; c'est la que Dedale avait place le ~tinotaure et que le tua Thesee, grace a la ruse imaginee par Phedre, soeur de Dedale.

Rhodes, Colossus: -Au temoignage des auteurs qui ont traite de l'antiquite, cette enceinte etait protegee par deux cents tours, dont chacune atteignait une hauteur de cinquante coudees et que le Colosse dominait toutes de son imposante stature; car ce Colosse avait soixante-dix coudees et portait une banniere que l'on distinguait a une distance de quatre-vingts milles; par son elevation, il faisait paraitre plus basses les parties hautes de la ville. Toutefois, j'ai trouve moi-meme dans un livre grec que, comme je l'ai deja dit, le Colosse etait une statue en bronze de soixante-dix coudees, ayant au milieu de la poitrine un grand miroir dont !'eclat etait assez considerable pour que les navires qui quittaient l'Egypte pussent 1' apercevoir.

Rhodes: columns, capitals, coins, ceramics: Il y avait, en outre, plus de mille autres colosses dissemines par toute l'ile et dresses sur des colonnes; il y avait aussi une grande quantite de colonnes ou etaient sculptees des tetes pareilles a celle du cerf. Nous trouvames a Rhodes, en nous promenant, [des monnaies a] l'effigie de Cesar avec nombre de vases remplis de cendres

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de cadavres brules. Ces vestiges conserves jusqu'a nos jours temoignent suffisamment de l'extreme magnificence de cette ville.

Rhodes: hoard of 500 statues: On a recemment trouve dans une vigne, pres de Saint-Antoine et de Saint-Sauveur, une cachette qui contenait cinq cents statues de toute sorte.

Rhodes: medieval city: Si done on la compare avec l'ancienne, la ville actuelle est bien peu de chose et ne comporte pas meme la comparaison. Elle regarde le levant et est divisee en quatre quartiers: le premier est occupe par le grand maitre de l'hopital de SaintJean; le deuxieme par les freres dudit ordre; le troisieme par l'hopital des chevaliers, edifice ou ceux-ci ont l'habitude de se reunir; le quatrieme et dernier est habite par les marchands et par les Grecs. Les Rhodiens sont generalement appeles Colossiens, et ce nom leur vient du Colosse.

Rhodes: positive opinion about the island: Rhodes est la plus agreable de toutes les iles de la Mediterranee; elle a un perimetre de cent cinquante-quatre milles. Tout son littoral accidental, a partir de la pointe septentrionale jusqu'au sud, est entierement plat et possede des villes et de nombreux villages.

Rhodes: wall across the island: Du cote de l'est, pres de la mer, s'etendait, dit-on, tres loin autrefois, a travers les montagnes et les forets, une muraille batie en pierres enormes, laquelle separait l'ile en deux parties: preuve evidente que Rhodes formait deux Etats distincts.

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Lindos: cult of Hercules: Nous apercevons ensuite la forteresse de Lindos, ou l'on offrait a Hercule des sacrifices suivant un rite different de tous les autres; car on lui sacrifiait de la chair comme aux autres dieux.

Rhodes: city with gardens and flowers: Nous arrivons ensuite a la tres illustre ville de Rhodes, ou les arbres sont si verdoyants et le paysage si agreable, qu'elle charme les regards du spectateur par son merveilleux panorama. Qui ne serait surtout frappe d'admiration a la vue du magnifique jardin que les Florentins ont cree en cet endroit?

Letter of St. Paul to the Colocenses: L'apotre saint Paul adressa une epitre aux Rhodiens, qu' il nomme Colossiens, a cause du Colosse. Aujourd'hui encore, on continue de les designer ainsi tant verbalement que par ecrit, comme nous l'avons deja dit.

Melos: statue of Cybele with allegorical explanation: J'ai constate que Cybele etait honoree a Milo; car j'y ai vu une sculpture qui la represente assise sur un char, coiffee d'une couronne murale ornee de pierreries diverses; des galli la suivaient; des lions roux trainaient son char et elle tenait une clef a la main. Cybele designe allegoriquement la terre et le char designe l'air, parce que la terre est suspendue en 1' air; les roues designent l'instabilite et l'inconstance du monde, qui tourne comme une roue; les lions symbolisent la piete maternelle et la persuasion, car il n'y ani ferocite ni cruaute qui ne cedent a l'amour maternel; l'ornementation de pierreries indique, comme il a ete dit, que la terre est suspendue dans l'air, qui donne a toutes les pierres precieuses leurs eclatantes couleurs; les galli sont les pretres de Cybele, qui etaient eunuques et qu'on appelait Corybantes; les couronnes murales symbolisent les villes qui sont par toute la terre; la clef que la deesse tient a la main ne signi-

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fie rien autre chose, je pense, sinon que la terre s'ouvre au printemps et se ferme en hiver.

Siphnos: statue of Pan with allegorical explanation: On dit que Pan etait venere a Siphanos; c'est ce que confirme une statue de ce dieu situee sur une eminence et deja endommagee par le temps. Quand saint Paul et les autres apotres parcoururent ces iles et y precherent la parole divine, ils detruisirent toutes les idoles. Les peintres et les sculpteurs ont represente Pan cornu et rougeaud. Ses cornes indiquent la partie superieure du monde; son teint rubicond, le feu et 1' air; les etoiles qu'il a sur la poitrine symbolisent les astres du ciel; les sept roseaux qu'il a dans la bouche, les sept planetes; ses cuisses, les arbres et les plantes; ses pieds de chevre, les animaux.

Seriphos: statue of Apollo: Apollon etait venere a Serphini sous les traits d'un enfant. Quand on le represente avance en age, voici quels sont ses attributs: il a sur la tete un trepied d'or; il porte d' une main un carquois, un arc et des fleches; de l'autre, il tient une lyre; il a a ses pieds un enorme dragon a trois tetes, une de chien, une de loup et une de lion; pres de lui est un corbeau voletant autour d'un laurier. Tels sont les attributs de ce dieu.

Allegorical explanation of the statue of Apollo: En voici l'explanation allegorique: Apollon symbolise le soleil, qui. le matin, est enfant, a midi, homme mfir, et, le soir, vieillard. Il tient un arc et des fleches, parce qu'il nous darde ses rayons; il porte une lyre, parce que, par sa melodie celeste, il effemine les gens robustes; un trepied, parce qu'il procure trois bienfaits a tous les habitants de cet univers: la lumiere, la chaleur et la force interieure qui agi t dans tous les e"tres vi vants; le monstre a trois tetes

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designe les trois temps: le present, le passe et l'avenir; la tete de chien symbolise l'avenir, car l'avenir seul, pareil a un chien caressant, nous berce d'esperances; la tete de loup indique le passe, parce que, semblable a un loup, le passe ravit et s'enfuit; le tete de lion designe le present, parce qu'il ne daigne pas fuir, mais se tient fixe comme un lion; le laurier indique que la Vierge, signe du zodiaque celeste, fait surtout sentir son influence en ete.

Andros:

ru~ns

and statue of Hermes:

Les evenement importants dont Andros a ete le theatre nous sont reveles par les ruines encore actuellement existantes; car, dans toute l'ile, on ne trouve guere que de grandes et magnifiques sculptures de marbre. Nous savons que Hermes y etait autrefois honore; car sa statue s'y trouve encore aujourd'hui;il est represente avec des ailes, ayant entre les mains un sceptre autour duquel s' enroulent des serpents; il parte un chapeau sur la tete (une tete de chien) et a devant lui un coq. On represente Hermes aile, parce que la planete de ce nom opere sa revolution a des hauteurs fort elevees; on dit qu'il tient un sceptre somnifere, parce qu'il endort les hommes par la douceur de ses paroles; il a une tete de chien, parce que, dans leurs discours, philosophes et orateurs mordent comme le chien; il parte un chapeau avec un coq, parce que les marchands, en gens serieux, circulent partout et savent agir conformement a leurs interets.

Delos; attempt to erect an enormous statue: Nous vimes a Delos, dans la pleine, un temple ancien orne d'un grand nombre de colonnes, ainsi qu'une statue colossale, gisant a terre et de proportions si considerables, que taus ensemble, et nous etions plus de mille, nous ne ptimes le remettre sur pied avec les machines et les cordages de nos galeres. Ayant done perdu tout espoir de reussir, nous la laissfunes a la meme place. Nous vimes, en outre, gisant egalement a terre, une foule d'autres statues executees avec un art merveilleux, et d'autres

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encore enfouies sous de petits tertres. Il y avait aussi de nombreuses maisons, dont les portes et les fenetres etaient tournees vers le temple. Au milieu de ces maisons s'elevait une tour, dans laquelle, apres la destruction du temple et la cessation de toutes les ceremonies du culte des idoles, les habitants se retiraient pour prendre du repos. 2

Paros: Minois: A l'ouest, se trouvait la ville de Minors, vis-a-vis de l'ile Delphique: il en subsiste encore bon nombre d'edifices avec colonnes et dans la pleine un temple de marbre immacule. On voit, en outre, au pied de la montagne, une tres ancienne forteresse construite avec des pierres enormes.

Naxos: statue of Bacchus: La statue de ce dieu se trouvait, en effet, pres de la ville; il etait represente assis sur deux tigres, enfant au visage feminin, la poitrine nue, la tete ornee de cornes et couronnee de pampre nouvellement pousse. On represente Bacchus sous les traits d'un enfant, parce que, quand il est ivre, il se comporte sans raison, comme un enfant; avec un visage feminin, parce que les hommes pris de vin con~oivent le desir de s'unir charnellement a la femme; sa nudite symbolise la verite; ses cornes, l'autorite; et les tigres, la fureur que cause l'ivresse.

Naxos: temple of Apollo: Il existe dans quelques endroits, a Naxos, des mines d'or, qui, faute d'ouvriers pour y travailler, restent inexploitees. A l'ouest de l'ile, s'eleve un tres magnifique temple d' Apollon, ou etait placee la statue de ce dieu. Dans le V01S1nage se trouvent l'emplacement des salines et une tour deja ruinee par le temps.

Cos: house of Hippocrates: On y trouve une multitude d'edifices en marbre et de 2

cf. Vergil, Aeneid, Ill, 79-82.

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theatres qui font !'admiration des visiteurs, mais laissent incredules les personnes qui en entendent seulement parler. Hors de la ville, vers le nord et aux environs de l'etang, se trouve la magnifique maison d'Hippocrate le celebre medecin. Pres de cette maison, il y a une source et un etang nomme Lambi, qui grossit en hiver et prend une extension considerable, mais se desseche en ete. Le divin Hippocrate apprit son art aupres de son pere Heraclide et de son grand-pere Hippocrate, mais il ne s'initia pres d'eux qu'aux principes de la medecine, ce qui constituait probablement tout leur savoir; quant a cette science entiere, il l'apprit grace a sa nature divine et il surpassa ses aieux autant par la noblesse de son ame que par !'excellence de ses connaissances. Il descendait, dit-on, des dieux par la ligne masculine et feminine; par son pere, il etait de la race d' Esculape, et, par sa mere, de la race d'Hercule. Or le susdit Esculape etait medecin et enseigna la medicine a ses fils; ils ordonna que les enfants l'apprissent de leur pere, afin que la noblesse de l'art de guerir restat toujours dans la famille et ne devint pas le partage des etrangers. Il leur enjoignit, en outre d'habiter au milieu des Cyclades, a cause de la temperature, mais de passer l'ete les montagnes de Cos. Cos: legend about the daughter of Hippocrates: Dans cette localite, se montra, il y a quelques annees, comme je l'ai appris, un enorme serpent qui devastait tout; il ne s'attaquait pas seulement aux animaux, mais encore aux gens. Tous fuyaient epouvantes. Cependant un homme courageux osa, pour le salut de la population, engager le combat avec le monstre. Lorsque, arme et a cheval, il s'elan9a contre le serpent, celui-ci saisit le cheval entre ses dents et l'etendit mort sur le carreau; mais, bien que prive de sa monture, le jeune homme lutta vaillamment quelque temps et finit par tuer la bete. On affirme que la fille d'Hippocrate apparait vivante, par intervalles, qu'elle parle et raconte ses malheurs; qu'elle prie, en outre, le createur de l'univers de la prendre en pitie et de mettre fin au chatiment qu'elle endure. Elle se montre, tous les six ou huit ans, dans le voisinage de la maison paternelle, comme beaucoup de gens l'attestent, et pousse d' une voix forte des cris lamentables.

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Kalymnos: many ruins: La prosperite de Calamos dans l'antiquite est encore actuellement attestee par le nombre et la grandeur des edifices qu'on y trouve. Mais qui pourrait en dire la variete et le caractere artistique? Car, dans toute l'ile, on ne voit presque exclusivement qu'une multitude d'oeuvres inimitables.

Samos: many

ru~ns:

a statue of Juno:

Au sud, dans une plaine voisine de la mer, il y avait une ville des plus magnifiques, dont il reste une telle multitude de ruines et de colonnes que l'on pourrait a peine les enumerer en une journee. Cette ville possedait, dit-on, un tres grand temple de Junon, soutenu par une merveilleuse colonnade. On voit encore aujourd'hui, non loin de la, une statue de la deesse.

Tenosa: ruins: Nous quittons ces iles privees de port de d~pourvues d' habitants, et nous nous rendons avec plaisir a Tenosa, que nous n'abordons pas, toutefois, sans beaucoup de peine. Nous y trouvames parmi les epines et les haies des vestiges d'antiquites.

Chios: tomb of Homer: On peut y ajouter une autre forteresse avec la Campagne d'Homere, ou l'on voit le tombeau de ce poete, monument endommage par son excessive vetuste; mais, n'ayant sur ce sujet rien de veridique a dire, je laisse a ceux qui viendront apres moi le soin de tirer la chose au clair.

Chios: Nea Moni: La Nea-Moni est situee dans les montagnes. Ce monastere, ou plus de trente religieux se consacrent au service de Dieu, possede une eglise d'une architecture si admirable que je suis incapable de la decrire. On y voit aussi une citerne construite avec un art merveilleux. Taus les passants sont heberges gratuitement a la Nea-Moni.

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Lesbos: Mytilene: Il y a sur les cotes de cette ile plusieurs villes fortes. La plus considerable est Metelin, qui fut dans l'antiquite une grande et tres puissante cite. Son enceinte, en effet, depassait quatre milles, bien que presentement elle soit reduite a un perimetre fort exigu.

Lesbos:

ru~ns:

Au sud de cette magnifique ville se dressent quatre colonnes, avec de superbes edifices et des galeries souterraines, baties anciennement avec une methode et un art merveilleux.

Troy- Hellespont: Si l'on dirige ses regards du cote de la plaine de Troie, on aperyoit distinctement de nombreuses ruines de cette ville. Nous penetrons enfin sur la gauche et par une etroite embouchure dans l'Hellespont, a l'entree duquel nous trouvons les Dardanelles. Dans la plaine voisine de cette ville on voit une quantite de colonnes debout. La grande cite de Troie occupait, a mon avis, l'espace compris entre le susdit detrait et les Dardanelles.

Gallipoli: sultan Murad I and his liberality: Un paysan, qui labourait la terre avec sa propre charrue, trouva un vase rempli d'argent et le porta aussitot avec sa voiture au susdit veritablement grand Mourad. Celui-ci, a la vue des pieces d'or, demanda aux plus ages de son entourage quel etait le prince dont elles portaient l'effigie; mais, comme ils ne purent le dire (car elles etaient fort anciennes), Mourad parla ainsi au paysan (qui n'admirerait la noblesse de cette ame~): "Mon brave homme, cette effigie n'est pas la mienne, ni celle d'aucun de mes aieux; c'est pourquoi il ne me parait pas juste de m'approprier la trouvaille d'un autre. Elle t'appartient, prends-la done et retire-toi en paix".

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Nicomedia: discovery of a very rich tomb; ru~ns:

Au dela de ces iles, vers l'est, il y a, pres de la mer, une grande ville nommee Nicomedie, ou l'on ne voit presque rien, sauf des edifices de marbre tombes de vetuste. C'est dans cette localite qu'un bouvier trouva un cercueil renfermant le corps d'un prince avec une couronne, un sceptre et une epee doree. Quand, par ordre de l'empereur (car on l'avait informe de cette decouverte), on essaya de tirer le cadavre du cercueil, il s'en alla en poussiere.

Constantinople: name of the city, foundation by Constantine: Nous arrivons maintenant a la tres infortunee ville de Constantinople. Bien qu'elle ne forme pas une ile, nous ne manquerons pas, puisque nous sommes venu jusque-la, de lui consacrer quelques lignes, afin le lecteur puisse s'en former une idee. Le nom qu'elle porte lui vient de Constantin, son fondateur. Ce prince l'ayant reunie a Byzance, en fit une immense cite. Les empereurs ses successeurs l'embellirent d'eglises et d'edifices magnifiques, principalement Justinien, le legislateur, qui fit construire Sainte-Sophie, un palais et un hippodrome.

Shape and size; walls of the city: Constantinople a la forme d'un triangle et un perimetre de dix-huit milles. La distance du premier angle, celui de Saint-Demetrius, a l'angle des Blaquernes est de six milles, et dans cet espace se dressent cent dix tours; des Blaquernes a la Porte Doree, il y a cinq milles, avec un double mur et un fosse rempli d'eau. Le mur, qui est tres eleve, porte quatre-vingt-seize tours. Enfin, de la Porte Doree a SaintDemetrius, il y a sept milles et cent quatre-vingt-dix-huit tours. Dans tout ce parcours, une plaine s'etend sous les murs.

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Bucoleon harbour; bones of the murdered Franks; La se trouvait jadis le port de Vlanga, ou, mus par un sentiment soit d'envie, soit de crainte, ·les Grecs donnerent insidieusement la mort a cinquante mille Francs, en leur faisant manger du pain compose de chaux et de farine. Les innombrables ossements de ces malheureux attestent encore aujourd' hui leur triste sort.

Constantinople: imperial palace, Nea, Pharos, street bordered with columns: Non loin de la est Contoscali, ou se trouve le chantier maritime. Venait ensuite, sur les murs, le fameux palais de Justinien, avec une merveilleuse eglise consacree aux Neuf legions d'Anges, laquelle, tant a cause de sa magnifique architecture et de ses paintures en mosaique d'or que de son pavage dispose avec un art admirable, est fameuse en tous lieux. Dans le voisinage de cette eglise, sur une eminence, pres de la mer, il y avait une vigie d'une hauteur colossale et qu' on apercevait de fort loin. Cet edifice etait entierement construit en marbre, comme on peut s'en convaincre encore aujourd' hui par les ruines qui en restent dans la mer, ou i~ s'est ecroule de vetuste. La aussi, il y a un tres petit part, dit Port de l'Empereur. Une route longue d'un mille, avec une double colonnade, conduisait du Grand Palais a Sainte-Sophie; c'est par cette route que passait l'Empereur. Hagia Sophia: Autour de Sainte-Sophie, il y avait des logements pour huit cents clercs, qui recevaient, dit-on, a titre de provende, tous les revenus de la Sicile. Il ne reste plus actuellement que le dome de l'eglise; toutes ses dependances sont tombees en ruines et aneanties. Sa hauteur, a partir du sol jusqu'a la voute, est de cent trentequatre coudees; et celle des fondations, depuis le bas, ou se trouve la citerne de l'eglise, jusqu'au niveau du sol, est de vingt-deux coudees. D'un angle a l'autre de l'eglise, la distance est de cent vingt coudees. L'eglise est ronde par le haut et

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absolument carree a sa base. Mais qui pourrait enumerer la variete de ses porphyres et de ses marbres, la magnificence de ses mosaiques d'or diaprees de couleurs et de dessins? Car je ne sais vraiment pas ou commencer!

Statue of Justinian I: A l'exterieur de Sainte-Sophie, du cote sud, se dresse une colonne de soixante-dix coudees de hauteur, sur le sommet de laquelle est une statue equestre en bronze de Justinien, tenant dans sa main gauche une pomme d'or, regardant vers l'est et menacant de sa main droite.

'

Hippodrome: Pres de cette colonne se trouve une rangee de six autres grandes colonnes, au dela desquelles, vers le sud, s'etend 1' hippodrome (en latin equi cursus), ou les noblesse reunissaient a cheval pour jouter en presence de la foule; on y donnait aussi des duels et d'autres combats pour !'amusement du peuple. L'hippodrome a cinq cent quatre-vingt-dix coudees de longueur et cent vingt-quatre de largeur. Il est entierement bati sur des colonnes, car au-dessous du sol il y a une citerne d'eau excellente, de grandeur egale a !'hippodrome lui-meme. En tete de !'hippodrome, se dressent vint-quatre colonnes, sur lesquelles prenaient autrefois place l'Empereur et les grands dignitaires; sur les deux cotes etaient des gradins de marbre destines au peuple; la multitude assise sur ces sieges voyait sans fatigue tout ce qui se passait dans l'arene. Au milieu de !'hippodrome, il y avait un mur peu eleve, qui le divisait dans toute sa longueur. Du cote de SainteSophie, ce mur etait perce d'innombrables fenetres, auxquelles les femmes se tenaient pour regarder ce qui leur faisait plaisir.

Baths: hospital - obelisk of Theodosius: Au commencement de ce mur, se trouvait le Grand-Bain, ou l'on deposait les blesses.

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Passe ce bain, on voit une pyramide de marbre, monolithe, reposant sur quatre cubes de bronze, haute de quarante-quatre coudees et portant graves sur sa base les vers suivants: K(ova. -cs-cpin:..\supov, Ent. XOOVt. XE:l~V axoo~, l.J.OUVO~ a;v:xa-cfja:x.t. 8so66aw~ Saat.A.su~ -coA.uf}a:x.~, IIp6xA.cv E:n:sxExA.s-co, xa.t. -c6oo~ EmTJ x(wv f]sA.(ot.~ tv -cpwxov-ra.66o.

Serpentine column; Non loin de cette pyramide se dressent trois serpents de bronze entrelaces; de leurs gueules ouvertes sortaient, diton, de l'eau, du vin et de lait destines aux combattants, mais seulement les jours ou les joutes avaient lieu.

Stone obelisk; imperial loge: Il y a encore, sur ledit mur de separation, une autre pyramide composee d'un grand nombre de pierres et haute de cinquante-huit coudees. Et, a l'extremite de ce mur, se dressent quatre colonnes basses, sur lesquelles l'Imperatrice se pla9ait les jours de fete et d'ou elle dominait la foule. Ce fut Theodose qui fit elever tous ces monuments dans cette illustre ville, ainsi que beaucoup d'autres edifices dignes d'eloges.

Monumental columns: On trouve encore ajourd'hui a Constantinople d'innombrables colonnes, parmi lesquelles cinq sont particulierement remarquables pour leur hauteur; car chacune d'elles mesure cinquante-six coudees. Ce sont, d'abord, la colonne de Justinien; ensuite celle de la Croix, pres de laquelle se dressent quatre colonnes de porphyre, qui portaient autant de chevaux dares, que les Venitiens prirent et transporterent jadis dans leur patrie, et qu'ils placerent dans l'eglise de Saint-Marc . Les colonnes sont seules restees. La troisieme et la quatrieme colonne sont presque au centre de la ville et

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BUONDELMONTI; LIBER INSpLARUl\1

offrent la representation des hauts faits des Empereurs.

Hagii Apostoli church with imperial tombs: Pres de l'eglise des Saints-Apotres se dresse la cinquieme colonne, dont le sommet porte un ange de bronze et Constantin a genoux. Ladite eglise, deja ruinee par le temps, renferme les somptueux tombeaux des Empereurs tailles dans du marbre pourpre, notamment le vast sarcophage de Constantin. On y voit la colonne a laquelle le Christ fut attache pour la flagellation.

Monasteries with famous relics: On conserve, au monaster~ du Pantocrator, la pierre sur laquelle Joseph ensevelit le Christ dans un suaire propre; au monastere de Saint-Jean-de-Petra, les vetements du Christ, et avec eux le roseau, l'eponge, la lance, la couronne d'epines, des poils de la barbe du Sauveur. Toutes ces reliques sont soigneusement placees dans un endroit bien protege.

Cisterns: Constantinople possede, en outre, d'admirables eglises, de vastes ci te.rnes construi tes avec un art inimitable, mais que le temps, qui vient a bout de tout, a deja reduites en ruines. Dans chacune d'elles on a plante des vignes, qui donnent annuellement quatre tonneaux de vin. Ce sont les citernes du susdit Saint-Jean, du Pantocrator, des SaintsApotres, de Mahomet, dans laquelle les colonnes sont rangees avec un art si parfait, que la description en paraitrait difficile a croire, et plusieurs autres encore. La principale et la plus vaste des eglises est celle de Sainte-Sophie, que Justinien fit construire en quinze annees. Viennent ensuite d'autres eglises qui different entre elles en grandeur et en beaute. Telles sont: Saint-Georges-deMangana, Sainte-Irene, Saint-Lazare, la Mere-de-Dieu, les Neuf legions d'Anges, Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul, les Quarante-Martyrs, avec une citerne d'eau excellente, dont on ignore la profond.eur, tant elle est considerable, Sainte-

BUONDELMONTI; LIBER INSULARUM

669

Anastasie, la Perivleptos, Saint-Jean-de-Studium, Saint-Andre, les Blaquernes. Il y a encore a Constantinople beaucoup d' autres magnifiques eglises, que tout le monde aurait de la peine a enumerer, mais moi surtout qui suis un etranger nouvellement arrive dans cette illustre ville.

Decay of the city; small number of inhabitants: Les Constantinopolitains sont fort peu nombreux et hostiles aus Latins, vis-a-vis desquels ils n'observeront jamais une paix certaine et durable, en eussent-ils fait dix mille fois la promesse. Cette ville autrefois si belle fut un veritable palais ou regnerent la sagesse et le bon ton. Aujourd'hui, oublieux de leur ancienne gloire et devenus grossiers, les Grecs ne s'appliquent plus qu'a satisfaire leur gourmandise; c'est la leur unique souci. Aussi,l'enorme consommation de poisson et de viande qui se fait a Constantinople est-elle cause que le quart de la population est affecte de la maladie sacree. Les Grecs ont, en outre, abandonne les enseignements de saint Jean Chrysostome, de saint Jean Damascene et autres saints Peres renommes pour leur vertu et leur savoir.

Galata/Pera: important and prosperous Genoese settlement: Au nord, se trouve Galata, la ville des Genois, distante de huit milles de Constantinople, dont elle est separee par la Corne-d'Or. De cet endroit, il y a dix-huit milles jusqu'a l ' embouchure du Pont-Euxin, laquelle est si etroite que taus les navires qui la franchissent courent le plus grand danger.

(Mount Athos: description of the monastic life ln the various monasteries). Negropontum: Vis-a-vis du duche d'Athenes, au nord, git l'ile anciennement appelee Eubee et aujourd'hui Negrepont, qui est reliee au continent par un long pant, sur lequel s'eleve une tour

670

BUONDELMONTI; LIBER INSULARUM

tres fortifiee. Deux fois par jour, il se produit, sous ce pont, une mouvement des eaux si impetueux que c'est chose merveilleuse a voir, car il est aussi rapide que le vol d'une fleche. La profondeur est enorme dans cet endroit. En tete de ce pont ce trouve la ville qui parte le meme nom que l'ile et passe pour la plus riche cite de cette region. Cette ile s'oriente de l'est a l'ouest; elle a une longueur de cent milles et un perimetre de trois cents milles. La ville de Negrepont est situee au sud. Elle appartenait autrefois aux Lombards, mais c'est aujourd'hui une possession venitienne.

ZOSIMOS

1421

671

Zosimus.

Title Author Motive Date Stay in Greece, Constantinople. Visit to

Russian deacon from the Sergius monastery (Moscow). pilgrimage to Constantinople and the Holy land. 1419-1421 (or later). 1421 (Zosimus was present at the elevation of John VIII Palaeologus as eo-emperor). Constantinople - Athos - Thessalonica.

Remarks

special attention to the monumental columns in Constantinople.

Text

1 MS. in Leningrad, formerly Bibliotheque imperiale de Saint Petersbourg, fonds Tolstoy, XVII Q. no. 76, ff. 73-92. (16th c.). Two other manuscripts are known, but have been lost.

Edition

Itineraires russes en Orient traduits pour Za Societe de Z'Orient Zatin par Mme. B. de Khitrowo~ Geneva, 1889, pp. 197-221.

Constantinople: statue of Justinian I: Devant l'entree de Sainte Sophie s'eleve une colonne sur laquelle se tient l'empereur Justinien a cheval; le cheval ainsi que le cavalier sont en airain. Il regarde l'orient & sa main droite etendue menace les rois Sarrasins. Et les rois Sarrasins [representes] par des idoles en airain, sont debout devant lui, leur tribut en main, & lui disent: "Ne nous menace pas, seigneur! nous commencerions a nous defendre." Dans 1' autre main il tient comme une pomme en or surmontee d'une croix.

Hippodrome with obelisk of Theodosius: Plus loin, a la distance d'une portee de fleche, se trouve Il y a la une colonne sur un piedestal; cedernier a la hauteur de trois hommes environ; quatre soutiens en marbre y sont poses sous la colonne, qui est d'une seule piece

l'Hippodrome.

ZOSIMOS

672 1

soixante sagenes de hauteur & de trois 2 de largeur. Et toi, homme, que ceux qui l'ont elevee ne te surprennent pas: c'etaient des artistes.

Hippodrome: serpentine column A cote, se trouve une colonne en bronze [composee] de trois tetes d'aspics reunies. Le venin des serpents y est scelle, & si quelqu'un dans l'interieur de la ville est mordu par un serpent, il lui sussit d'y toucher pour etre guer1; si, au contraire, c'est arrive hors de la ville, la guerison n'a pas lieu.

Column of Constantine: Un peu plus haut que !'Hippodrome s'eleve une colonne surmontee d'une croix, indiquant !'emplacement du palais de 1' empereur Constantin; les douze fragments (des pains multiplies par] le Christ, la hache de Noe avec laquelle il construisit 1' Arche & la pierre dont Moise fit sortir de l'eau y sont scelles.

'Prophetical' column of Arcadius: C'est du cote du couvent de Stoudios que se trouve la colonne entierement couverte d'inscriptions concernant tout ce qu'il y a dans le monde, qui a ete elevee par l'empereur Arcadius en sa propre memoire.

Column with statue of an angel near the Hagii Apostoli: Devant la grande porte de l'eglise s'eleve une tres haute colonne, sur laquelle est place un ange terrible & grand, qui a en main le sceptre de Constantinople 3 &, vis-a-vis de lui, se trouve l'empereur Constantin tenant dans ses main la Ville imperiale & la remettant sous la garde de l'ange. 1

2

(six) d'une

ZOSIMOS

673

Constantinople: situation: La Ville imperiale est triangulaire; deux murailles s'elevent du cote de la mer & la troisieme du cote de l'occident [pour defendre la ville] contre les assauts. Dans le premier angle, en venant de la Mer Blanche, se trouve le couvent de Stoudios; dans le deuxieme celui de Sainte George. C'etait jadis une petite ville, appelee Byzantine~ visa-vis de Scutari. L'endroit qu'on nomme Scutari est un marche sur le rivage oppose de la mer; les Turcs s'y assemblent d'un cote & les Grecs & les Francs d'un autre & stipulent des marches ensemble. Dans le troisieme angle, est situee l'eglise des

Blachernes; non loin du port, un peu au-dessus de l'eglise, se trouve le palais, &, au dela du port, la ville franque qui est tres belle.

GHILLEBERT DE LANNOY

674

1421

Ghillebert de Lannoy.

Title Author Motive

Date Stay in Greece, Constantinople, Asia Minor Visit to Text Edition

Burgundian nobleman. ambassador of Philip the Good and the king of England to southeastern Europe and the Levant; preparations for a crusade against the Turks. 1421-1423.

1422. Constantinople and Gallipoli. Ch. Potvin, Lannoy~

Oeuvres de GhiZZebert de dipZomate et moraZiste~

voyageur~

Louvain, 1878.

Gallipoli: Gallipoly est situee ou destroit de Rommenie, sur la Grece, et est ville tres grande, non fermee, et y a ung chaste! assis assez pres de la mer, quarre, a huit petites tours, et sont fondees sur haultes douves, 1 quiriez en quarrure. Et sont les fossez d'entour par devers la terre, haulz, sans eaue, comme il samble, et ceulz par devers la mer sont bas et y a de l'eaue. Et droit dessoubz le chaste!, sur la mer, y a ung bon petit port pour gallees et pour toutes petittes fustes. Et, pour celui port garder, y a une tres belle grosse tour quarree sur la rive de la mer, tout bas sur la terre ferme, vers le chaste!. Et d'autre bende, y a ung mur, fait en la mer, qui clot ledit port avec aucuns longs peulz 2 et moyennant lesdis peulz n'y remaint fors 3 une petite entree par ou les galees entrent et n'y a point de chaienne. - Item~ y avoit oudit port, quant je y passay, quatre galees et moult grant nombre de petis 1

dounes pieux 3 sinon

2

GHILLEBERT DE LANNOY

675

vaisseaulz passaigiers et petites fustes. Et y ont les Turcqs communement tous leurs plus grans povoirs de galees et de fustes plus qu'ilz n'ont nulle part aillieurs. - Item~ droit a l'opposite dudit Galipoly, entre la mer appellee le destroit de Rommenie, sur la Turquie, y a une tres belle tour ou les Turcs font communement le passaige de l'un pais a l'autre. Et est en ce lieu la la mer estroite environ de trois a quatre milles de large. Et qui auroit ledit chastel et port, les Turcs n'auroient nul sceur passaige plus de l'un a l'autre et seroit leur pays qu'ilz ont en Grece comme perdu et deffect. -Item~ y a, de Constantinoble a Gallipoly, cent et cincquante milles, et y a devant ledit Gallipoly, lieu, mer et fons assez sceur 4 et competent a sourdre 5 et mettre l'anchre pour grosses naves non obstant ce qu'il n'y aye pas droit port pour icelles.

Contantinople: Et me fist monstrer sollempnellement les dignes relicques dont plusieurs en y avoit en la cite et mesmes aucunes precieuses qu'il avoit en sa garde, sy comme le saint fer de la lance et autres tres dignes. Et me fist monstrer les merveilles et anciennetez de la ville et des eglises. Laquelle ville est en trepier assise sur la mer et a dix-huit milles de tour.

4 5

une lieue en mer, fonds assez sceur. s'enradre.

676

1427

JOHANN SCHILTBERGER

Johann Schiltberger.

Title Author/Motive

Date Stay in Greece, Constantinople, Asia Minor Visit to

German soldier, who was made captive in the Battle of Nicopolis (1396); he escaped from the Turkish compulsory service to Constantinople and returned from there to Germany in 1427. 1396-1427.

1427 (and before, during his stay in Turkish service). Constantinople - Thessalonica Adrianople - Gallipoli - west coast of Asia Minor.

Remarks

Schiltberger gives a tale about the statue of Justinian I which cannot be found elsewhere.

Text

4 MSS. dating from the second part of the 15th century, in Nurnberg, Heidelberg, Donaueschingen and a fragment at Sankt Gallen. All these MSS. are copies, the original book has been lost. - *J. Buchan Telfer, The Bondage and

Editions

Travels of Johann Schiltberger~ a Native of Bavaria~ in Europe~ Asia and Africa~ 1396-142?~ London, 1879. - V. Langmantel, Hans Schiltbergers Reisebuch~

Tubingen, 1885.

Constantinople and Pera, situation and size; Golden Horn: Constantinopel is a fine large city and well built, and is quite eighteen Italian miles in extent at its walls, about which it has fifteen hundred towers. The city is triangular, having the sea on two sides. The Greeks call Constantinoppel, Istimboli, but the Turks call it Stampol; and opposite to the city, is a city called Pera, which the Greeks call Kalathan, and the Infidels call it the same. Between the two cities is an arm of the sea, quite three Italian miles in length, and half [a mile]

JOHANN SCHILTBERGER

677

or more in breadth; and the arm is crossed from each side, because the distance by land is far. The said city belongs to Genaw.

Bosporus, Black Sea, Scutari: The great Alexander cut through high rocks and mountains fifteen Italian miles in length, and caused two seas to flow into each other; and that which flows is called and is the Great Sea, and it is also called the Black Sea, and the Tunow and many other great rivers flow into it. In the said sea one goes to Caffa, to Alathena, to Trabessanda, and to Samson, and to many other cities and countries that lay around. The arm of the sea [at] Constantinoppel is called Hellespant by the Greeks, and the Infidels call it Pages. The Turks also have a shore across the sea, opposite to Constantinople, which they call Skuter; there, the Turks cross the sea.

Troy: Also not far from Constantinoppel by the sea, was Troya, on a fine plain, and one can still see where the city stood.

Constantinople, imperial palace and Hippodrome: The emperor of Constantinoppel has two palaces in the city; one is very beautiful, and is much decorated inside with gold, lapislazuli, and marbles. In front of the palace is a fine square for tilting, and for all [kinds of] pastime that might be desired in front of the palace.

Statue of Justinian I: In front of the palace is the statue of the emperor Justinian on a horse; it is placed upon a high piece of marble, which is a pillar. I asked a burgher of the city of what this statue was made; he told me it was of bronze, and that both the horse and the man was entirely of one casting. Some people of the country say that it is of leather, and yet it must have stood there quite a thousand years; had it been leather, it

678

JOHANN SCHILTBERGER

would not have stood so long, it would have rotted. At one time the statue had a golden apple in the hand, and that meant that he had been a mighty emperor over Christians and Infidels; but now he has no longer that power, so the apple has disappeared.

Imbros: Not far from Constantinoppel there is an island called Lemprie; in it is a mountain that is so high, it reaches to the clouds.

Constantinople, Hagia Sophia: At Constantinoppel is the most beautiful church, so that nothing like it can be found in India; it is called Sancta Sophya, and is covered all over with lead, and one can see one's self on the walls inside the church as if in a mirror, because the marble and lapis-lazuli on the wall is clear and clean. In this same church is their patriarch with his priests, and the Greeks and all those who are under the patriarch go in pilgrimage, as we, for our sins, go to Rome. When Constantine had finished the churches, he placed as an improvement in the church, high up in the middle of the dome, five golden discs, and each disc is as wide, large, and thick as a mill-stone; but the emperor took down two during the great war which the Turkish king Wyasit had with him, when he besieged Constantinoppel for seven years. I myself was at that same time with the king in Turkey, and I have also seen the three discs [left] in the church. The church of Sancta Sophia has three hundred gates.

Impossibility to walk about the city: I was III months at Constantinoppel in the house of the patriarch, but I and my comrades were not allowed to walk about the city, because they were afraid that the Infidels would recognise us, and would take us before the emperor. I would gladly have seen it (the city), but it could not be, because the emperor had forbidden it, but even then we sometimes went out with the patriarch's servants.

JOHANN SCHILTBERGER

679

Adrianopolis - Thessalonica: I have also been in Greece; the capital is Adranapoli, which city has fifty thousand houses. There is also a large city by the White Sea in Greece, and it is called Salonikch; and in this city lies Saint Sanctiniter, from whose grave oil flows. In the middle of the church there is a well, and on his day the well is full of water, but it is dry on every other day in the year. I have been in this city.

Serres - Gallipoli: There is also a mighty city in Greece, called Seres; and all the territory that lies between the Tlinow and the sea, belongs to the Turkish king. There is a city and a fortress called Chalipoli; there the high sea is crossed. I myself crossed there, over to Turkey. This same sea is crossed to go to Constantinoppel. I was three months in the said city where people go over into Great Turkey.

Bursa - Ephesus - Smyrna: The capital of Turkey is called Wursa. The city contains two hundred thousand houses, and eight hospitals where poor people are received, whether they be Christians, Infidels, or Jews. Three hundred castles are dependant on this city, without excepting the chief towns which are herafter described. The first is called Asia, in which is the grave of St. John the Evangelist; it is in a fertile country called Edein in the Infidel tongue; but the natives call it Hohes. The other city and country that belongs to it, is called Ismira, and Saint Nicholas was bishop there.

680

1431

MARIANO DA SIENA

Mariano da Siena.

Title Author Motive Date Stay in Greece Visit to Text Edition

(viaggio in Terra Santa?). Italian noble from Siena. pilgrimage to Jerusalem. 1431. 1431. Corfu- Modon -Rhodes.

Del viaggio in Terra Santa fatto e descritto da Ser Mariano da Siena nel secolo XV.~ Florence, 1822. D. Moreni,

Corfu: The island of Corfu is 300 miles in perimeter. The Venetians are lords over the whole island. There are many fortresses but there is only one city, which is called Corfu. Greeks and Latins live there, and many Jews also reside there. In the city there are two beautiful and very strongly fortified rocks.

Rhodes: one of the Thirty Pieces of Silver: one of the thirty coins for which accursed Judas sold his beloved master, Jesus.

BERTRANDON DE LA BROQUIERE

681

Bertrandon de la Broquiere.

1432 Title Author Motive

Date Stay in Greece, Constantinople, Asia Minor Visit to

(Voyage d'Outremer?). Burgundian noble. pilgrimage to the Holy Land; at the same time espionnage in Palestine and the Turkish lands; preparation of a crusade. 1432-1433.

1432-1433. Archipelago - Constantinople - Pera Northern Greece (Adrianople, Serres, Aenus, Trajanopolis).

Remarks

- important description of Constantinople with special attention to the daily life. - description of some places in Northern Greece.

Text

in various MSS; 1 luxurious copy in Paris, B.N. MS. fr. 9087, dating from 1456; this book may be the copy of duke Philip the Good. Ch. Schefer, Le voyage d'Outremer de Bertrandon de la Broquiere~ Paris, 1892.

Edition

From Corfu to Rhodes: Et tant exploictasmes par entre les ysles que nous venismes jusques a l'ysle de Corfo ou il y a une asssez bonne ville qui a nom Corfo ou est ung tresbeau havre et deux beaulx chasteaux, tout aux Venissiens. Et de la venismes jusques au pays de la Mouree a une ville des Venissiens qu'on nomme Moudon qui est bonne et belle, ayant un moult beau havre. Et de la venismes en l'ysle de Candie qui est tresbonne ysle et moult fertile de biens. Et illec il y a un gouverneur de par la seignourie des Venissiens que len nomme duc. 1 Mais sa duchie ne lui dure que trois ans. Les gens de ceste ville sont bonnes gens de mer, et a en ceste ville ung petit havre ferme. Item, de la, nous alasmes in 1432 Marco Giustiniani.

a Rodes

l'une desdictes galees

682

BERTRANDON DE LA BROQUIERE

et l'autre s'en ala en Cypre. Je descendy en Rodes seullement pour veoir la ville: et n'eus pas d'espace d'aller veoir le chastel pour ce que nostre gallee se partit tantost.

From Scutari to Pera (Galata): Item, lendemain nous venismes a Escutary qui est ung villaige sur le destroict que nous appelons le bras Sainct George, au droit de Pere. Et la passay ledict destroict avec les dis marchans, et y avoit des Turcs qui gardoient le passaige et recepvoient l'argent du tribut qu'il falloit baillier pour passer et passasmes en deux vaisseaulx qui estoient aux Grecs. Et a audit Escutary asses bon lieu pour chargier et deschargier gens et chevaulx, mais assy est il bien aisie a deffendre la descendue, et y a des roches que on fortefieroit bien pour garder ledit passaige. Et de la arrivay a Pere, et par la carte marine peut on veoir la largeur dudit destroict.

Pera: prosperous city: Pere est une ville moult grande qui est a la seignourie de Jennes, qui adont se gouvernoit de par le due de Milan qui s'en disoit seigneur. Elle ne me samble point a veoir bien forte du coste de la terre, devers une eglise qui est prez de la porte qui tire selon le bout du havre devers la terre. Et sont en ceste ville tout la pluspart de Jennevois marchans, qui gouvernent ladite ville. Il y a ung potestat et aultres officiers a leur maniere. Et y demeurent aussi des Grecz et Juifz; et est une ville bien marchande et ont grant hantise avec les Turcs, lesquelz ont en ladite ville une telle franchise comme il me fu dist que se ung Crestien esclave se eschappoit desdis Turcs et s'en venist la a refuge et lesdis Turcs l'envoient requerir, il fauldroit que ilz leur rendissent. Il a, en ceste dicte ville de Pere, le plus beau havre que je visse oncques et croy qu'il soit es Chrestiens. Car les plus grosses carraques de Jennes y peuvent venir mettre escale en terre comme plusieurs gens s9avent; et pour ce, je m'en deporte de en plus parler.

(Meeting with the ambassador of the Duke of Milan, Benedetto Folco da Forli).

BERTRANDON DE LA BROQUIERE

683

Crossing of the Golden Horn: Le lle jour que je fus arrive en Pere, je traversay le havre qui n'est point large, mais il est bien parfond pour aler veoir ladite cite de Constantinople.

Constantinople: situation; this city built on seven hills: Constantinoble est une cite moult grande et spacieuse, faicte comme ung escu a trois poinctes de quoy l'une est sur le destroit que nous appellons le bras Sainct Georges. Et a de l'un des costes devers le midi, ung gouffre asses large qui dure de la jusques a Gallipoly, et de !'autre, vers le north est le havre. Et vueult on dire qu'ilz sont trois grosses citez et en chascune a VII montaignes. C'est Romme, Constantinoble et Anthioce. Au regard de moy, il me samble que Romme est plus grande et plus reonde que Constantinoble. Et quant a Anthioce, je ne la veiz que en passant et ne peus s9avoir combien elle comprent, fors que les montaignes sont plus grandes que celles de Romme et de Constantinoble. On dist aussi que ceste cite a XVIII milles de tour en ses trois quarres. Et !'autre tiers est sur la terre devers solei! couchant. Et est tresbien fermee d'asses bonnes murailles tout autour et, par especial, la part qui est vers la terre; laquelle premierement de l'un coing a !'autre qui sont VI milles, comme dit est, a ung fosse tout cure, excepte a ung des boutz devers Pere, environ IIc pas du palais qu'on appelle le Blaquerne pour ce que d'eulx mesmes les fosses sont asses parfons pour une montaignete qui est au devant. Et me fu dit que autresfois l'ont cuidie prendre par icelle place. Et apres ces fosses, environ XVI ou XX piez, il y a une fausse braye de bonne muraille et haulte. Et apres sont les haultz murs de la ville, lesquelz sont beaulx et bons et fors de ce caste.

Tale about the demolished palaces: Et y souloit avoir aux deux deboutz deux beaulx palais et fors, comme encoires il y peult ap~aroir par les murailles et edefices qui y sont. Et me fu dit que ung Empereur les fist abatre pour ce qu'il se trouva en dangier et prisonnier du Grant Turc, lequel le volt contraindre de rendre la cite de

684

BERTRANDON DE LA BROQUIERE

Constantinoble ou de le faire mourir. Lequel Empereur respondi qu'il amoit mieulx mourir que faire ung si grant dommaige a la Crestiente et que sa mort ne seroit point si prejudiciable comme seroit la perte de Constantinoble, et ainsi eslut il la mort. Et quant le Turc vit cecy, il luy fist dire qu'il fist abatre les deux palais et la place qui est devant Saincte Sophie et il le delivreroit, pensant mais que les ditz palais feussent abbatus, que aisement apres il concquesteroit ladicte cite. L'Empereur l'accorda et ainsi le fist faire comme il appert encoires.

Bucoleon harbour; crypt with bones of murdered Franks: Il y a dedans ladite cite ung petit havre pour mettre Ill ou IIII galees du caste du midi, asses pres d'une parte ou il y a une montaignette des os des Crestiens qui partirent de Jherusalem et de la terre de promission et d'Accre apres Gaudeffroy de Billon, lesquelz Crestiens estoient en grant nombre et vinrent sur le destroit de Constantinoble et les Grecz qui les aloient passer, a mesure que ilz les avoient menes en icelle place qui est bien avant en la ville, hors de la veue des autres, ilz les tuoient tous. Et eussent tout tue, se n'eust este ung page qui repassa devers les autres, et leur dist vraiment que tous ceulx qui estoient passes estoient mors. Et ainsi le demourant s'en ala autour de la mer Maiour en bien grant nombre. Et vueult on dire que ce sont ceulx que l'on appelle maintenant Cercays, Zigues, Gothlans, Avar et Mingrelins. Et sont toutes ces gens cy gros Crestiens habitans autour de la mer Maiour. Je n'en s9ay que par ouy dire, car il y a grand piece que ce fu.

Constantinople, harbour;many open place 1n the city: Tout ainsi que les grosses carraques peuvent venir devant Pere, semblablement font a Constantinoble. Et est ceste cite cy faicte par villaiges et y a beaucop plus de vuyde que de plain.

'

BERTRANDON DE LA BROQUIERE

685

Hagia Sophia: Il y a de moult belles eglises, c'est assavoir l'eglise de Saincte Sophie qui est la maistresse eglise ou le patriarche se tient et autres gens comme chanoines, laquelle eglise est asses pres de la poincte, devers le solei! levant, et est grande eglise faicte sur le reond. Et dist on, anciennement, elle souloit avoir trois milles de tour. Mais maintenant, elle n'est pas si ample; et estoit faicte par cloistres, dont il y en a encoires trois et sont pavez de larges marbres, blancz et lambroissiez. Et y a des partes d'airain haultes et larges. Et puis y est le corps de l'eglise de trois estages tous d'une fachon. L'ung est dessoubz terre, !'autre sur la terre et le tiers est hault. Et va on tout autour ainsi que en maniere d'un cloistre et est tout lambroissie et pave de large marbre. Et sont les pilliers gros et de plusieurs couleurs.

Hagia Sophia: performance of a mystery play: Je veiz un jour ledit patriarche 2 faire le service a leur maniere auquel estoient l'Empereur, 3 sa mere, 4 sa femme qui estoit une tresbelle dame, fille de l'empereur de Trapzonde~ et son frere qui estoit dispot de la Mouree. 6 Je attendi tout le jour pour veoir leur maniere de faire, et firent un mistere de trois enfans que Nabuchodonosor fist metre en la fournaise.

Hippodrome; playing horsemen: Il y a devant ceste eglise de Saincte Sophie une moult belle place, ou anciennement souloit avoir ung beau lieu en maniere d'un palais cloz de belles murailles, comme il samble, ou ilz souloient faire leurs esbatemens comme il me fu dit. 2

Josef II Johannes II 4 Helena 5 Maria Comnena 6 Thomas Palaeologus 3

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Et je y veiz le frere de l'Empereur dispot de la Mouree, a XX ou XXX chevaulx. Chascun portoit son arc et couroit au long de ladite place a cheval. Et jettoient leurs chapeaulx devant et puis celluy qui povoit ferir le plus pres en courant, par derriere, c'estoit le mieulx fait a leur guise. Aussi est ce une de leurs habiletez et qu'ilz apprenent des Turcz. Et il y a aupres de ceste poincte l'eglise de Saint George qui est belle. 7

Statue of Justinian I: Et y a devers la Turquie au plus estroict une tour. Et me samble que a cest endroict, le passaige n'est pas bien large. Et en alant de l'autre coste devers le ponant, il y a ung moult hault pillier de pierres quarrees ou il y a des lettres escriptes, lequel est bien hault et dessus est Constantin l'Empereur, de metail sur ung grand cheval tout de fondure et tient le sceptre en l'enchlenche main et a le bras droit tendu et la main ouverte devers la Turquie et le chemin de Jherusalem par terre, en signe que tout celluy pays jusques en Jherusalem luy souloit estre obeyssant, et ne s9ay point en quelle maniere on l'a peu mettre la dessus, veu la grandeur et le poix de quoy il est.

Three columns upon which the horses of St. Mark's cathedral, Venice, were placed: Et asses pres dudit pillier en a Ill autres d'un renc, chascun d'une pierre sur lesquelx souloit avoir trois chevaulx dorez lesquelz sont maintenant a Venize.

Pantocrator church, tomb of Helena: Il y a encoires une belle et gente eglise qu'on appelle Pantheacrator ou il y a des religieulx qu'on appelle Kalogiros et sont comme nous dirions moynes de !'Observance. Il y a aussi 7

St. Georgius in Mangana.

' BERTRANDON DE LA BROQUIERE

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en ceste eglise les sepultures de saincte Helaine mere de Constantin et de Constantin qui sont elevees de environ VIII piedz de hault, chascune sur un reond pillier sur la fachon d'un diamant pointu de IIII quarres. Et autresfois que on dist que les Venissiens eurent grant puissance a Constantinoble, ilz emporterent le corps de saincte Helaine a Venize lequel est tout entier. Et dist on qu'ilz ne peurent oncques ouvrir celluy de Constantin et est asses vraysamblable, car on voit deux grosses pierres qui sont rompues par la ou on le vouloit ouvrir. Et sont lesditz deux sepultures de la couleur de jaspre sur le vermeil comme une brique.

Blachernae buildings: Il y a encoires une autre eglise que on appelle la Blaquerne pres du palais de l'Empereur et des murs du coste de la terre, envers Pere, la ou sont les fosses que je dis qui ne sont pas glacissez. Et me samble que ceste eglise cy, qui n'est pas grande, d'autant qu'elle contient, est aussi belle ou plus que nulle de toutes les autres, car elle est pavee, paincte, lambroissiee et tout ce que faire se peut. Il me samble qu'il n'y a riens a redire fors qu'elle est ung pou mal couverte. Je croy bien qu'il y a des autres eglises ou je n'ay point este.

(Weakness of the Greeks, power of the Turks and Venetians in Constantinope) Small area under the power of the Byzantine emperor: Et tout depuis la ville de Constantinoble jusques a ladite cite de Salubrie qui sont deux journees, si est en 1' obeissance de l'Empereur, mais il n'y a que villaiges bien povres. Et est ceste ville de Salubrie celle que le Turc n'a oncques peu prendre, et toutes fois n'est elle point trop forte de la part qui est sur la mer; et il y a ung pou de havre qui est sur le gouffre entre Constantinoble et Gallipoly.

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Adrianopolis; rich and important city, residence of the sultan: Item, de Zambry, je alay avec ledit ambaxadeur a Andrenopoly qui est une tresbonne ville et la millieure que le Turc ayt en la Grec. Ceste ville cy est tresgrande et bien marchande et fort peuplee de gens. Et cy se tient le Seigneur plus que en nulle autre ville de la Grece. Et est ceste ville sur une moult grosse rivyere que l'on nomme la Marisse. Et demeurent en ceste ville plusieurs marchans Venissiens, Cathelans, Jenevois et Flourentins. Cy se tient le seigneur de la Grece comme nous disons ung lieutenent, et avoit este esclave du Turc.

Serres; battle of Pharsalus: Item, je me party de ceste ville de Andrenopoly avec ledit Messire Benedicto pour aler devers le Turc qui estoit a Lesseres, une grosse ville en Pirrhe vers ou fu la bataille de Thessale de Jule Cesar et de Pompee, et passay ceste rivyere que l'on nomme la Marisse a bateaulx et alay en ung villaige qui est pres de ladite rivyere.

Aenus: tomb of Polydorus: Item, de cy je alay a une ville qu l'en nomme Ayne qui fu jadis une grant cite du temps de Troye la grant et y souloit avoir ung roy et maintenant en est seigneur le frere du seigneur de Matelin, lequel est tributaire au Turc; et est ceste dite ville sur la mer et entre ceste grosse rivyere cy en la mer, qui a bien deux milles de large. Item, il y a une sepulture qui est sur une petite montaigne reonde et dient que jadis le Roy Priam envoya ung sien filz moinsne qu'on appelloit Polidoire avec grant foison de tresor a ce ray de Ayne, lequel, aprez la destruction de Troye, tant pour crainte des Grecz que pour la convoitise du tresor, l'avoir faict morir.

(Visit to the sultan with the Milanese ambassador).

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Positive op1n1on about the Turks: Et quant j'euz passe ladite montaigne, je vins en une ville que l'en nomme Trajanopoly, jadis eddifiee par ung empereur appelle Trajan, lequel avoit, ce disoient les Grecz, une oreille ainsi que ung mouton et fu filz de celluy qui eddifia Andrenopoly. Et fist cest empereur pluseurs autres choses dignes de memoire. Ceste ville de Trajanopoly est pres de la mer et de ceste rivyere que l'on appelle la Marisse et a este asses grande ville et est toute abbatue et n'y demeure que ung pou de gens; et y a en ceste ville ung baing que l'on nomme eau saincte et est au pie d'une montaigne qui luy est devers le soleil levant et la mer luy est devers midy.

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1437-1438

Pero Tafur

Title Author Motive

Date Stay in Greece, Constantinople, Asia Minor Visit to

Andan9as e viajes de Pero Tafur por diversas partes del mundo avidos. Spanish noble. pilgrimage to Jerusalem; at the same time he was seeking information about his family tradition at the Byzantine court. 1435-1439.

1437-1438. Peloponnesus - Crete - Archipelago Constantinople - west coast of Asia Minor - Brusa - Athos - Thessalonica.

Remarks

-

Text

1 MS. in the Bibliotheca Patrimonial at Salamanca. - M. Jimenez de la Espada, Andancas e

Editions

important description of Constantinople in the late Palaeologian period. - visit to Troy.

~

viajes de Pero Tafur par diversas partes del mundo avidos (1435-1439)~ Madrid, 1874 (2 vols.).

- *M. Letts, Pero Tafur. Travels and

Adventures See also

1435-1439~

London, 1926.

- Ch. Diehl, 'Un voyageur espagnol a Constantinople au XVe siecle', Melanges Gustave Glotz~ I, Paris, 1932, pp. 319-27. - A. Vasiliev, 'Pero Tafur. A Spanish Traveller of the fifteenth century and his visit to Constantinople, Trebizond and Italy', Byzantion~ 7 (1932), pp. 75-122. - J. Vives, 'Andancas e viajes de un hidalgo espanol (1436-1439) con una descripci6n de Roma', Gesammelte Auf-

satze zur Kulturgeschichte 7 (1938), pp. 172-206.

Spaniens~

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Gulf of Corinth - Isthmus: This day we passed the Gulf of Patras on the left hand, and much enjoyed the sight of it. Here the city of Corinth is situated, a very ancient place with magnificent buildings, now much depopulated. This gulf strikes inland, and with the other gulf which enters from the other side it forms the peninsula of Morea, which in ancient times was called Achaia. It is governed by the Emperor of Constantinople, and is the patrimony of the eldest son whom they call Despot of Morea. These two gulfs eat so far into the land that they say there is not a space of two miles between them. An Emperor of Constantinople once wished to make the peninsula into an island, but he changed his mind on the advice of his counsellors. Nevertheless, he enclosed it with a very strong wall which can be seen to this day.

(Visit to a group of monks on an island near Modon) Modon: On the fourth day we arrived at Modone, which lies between that island and the island of Sapienza, and there we cast anchor and landed in order to provision the ship, and to enable the master and the passengers to transact certain business there, for they were Venetians and the place belongs to Venice. There are 2000 inhabitants, and the sea encloses it on both sides. It is well walled and sufficiently strong, but flat. I saw there numerous gardens supplied with all kinds of fruit, and the soil is very productive, like that of Andalucia. Lodging is good, the language is Greek, but the place is governed from Venice.

Koron: Six miles away is Corone, which lies in the other gulf of which I spoke. It is a large town and a powerful fortress. Here also Greek is spoken, and it is likewise under the seigniory of Venice. The Venetians have these possessions in Morea because they are vital for their trade. The people are very wealthy, for these places are the ports of discharge for Greece and the Black Sea for all classes of merchandise. We remained there six days.

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To Candia v1a Cythera: Then we sailed towards Candia, which was anciently called Creta, where once King Agamemnon reigned, who led the Greeks against the Trojans. We left the Archipelago on the left, which is full of islands both populated and uninhabited, and among them I saw the island of Cythera, which the Greeks call Cetril. Here is was that Paris seized Helen and carried her off to Troy. I saw also a mighty rock which is very smooth, but which rises to a great height. In the midst of it is a cave, two hundred fathoms high and more than that in depth.

Candia under Venetian domination: From Modone to the island of Crete the distance is 350 miles, which we compassed in two days and two nights, after which we arrived at the harbour of Candia, and because the Latins of Crete know only the city of Candia they call the whole kingdom by that name. The island is very fertile and well supplied with excellent towns and fortresses. The language is Greek, and the government is from Venice. Each year a Duke is sent as governor, and since, not long ago, the islanders rose against the Venetians, who had to send and recapture the place, an ordinance was issued that in a certain part of the island nothing should be sown, nor should the cattle be allowed to multiply. This was done to decrease the prosperity of the people, since everything is so abundant there.

Candia: Labyrinth near the city of Candia: The city of Candia is very large, with many great buildings. They say that three miles away is that Labyrinth, made by Daedalus, with many other antiquities.

Riches of the island of Candia: The city is well built, with beautiful gardens and much water. The harbour is remarkable, with an excellent mole made artificially. There are also many wind-mills. At a certain period of the year such multitudes of falcons pass over the

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island that they can hardly find anyone to buy them. We remained there three days, and then sailed for Rhodes leaving the Archipelago and numerous islands on the left hand.

From Candia to Rhodes: The distance from Candia to Rhodes is 300 miles. On the third day we reached the island, and found there certain galleys and ships belonging to the King of Aragon, but we armed ourselves and displayed our pennons for Jerusalem, and when they saw these they left us at once and sailed away.

Rhodes: palace of the Grand Master and Hospital of the Knights: The city of Rhodes is flat, but fortified with a moat and wall, and on one side is a place apart where the Knights Hospitallers of Jerusalem have their residence, which is called the Collachium, and in it is the Hospital from which they take their name. It is one of the most magnificent houses of piety which I have ever seen, and, indeed, in the matter of building and embellishments and supplies it could not be improved. The Knights receive anyone who is sick, and a patient dying there is absolved from sin and punishment, and even for those who visit the Hospital there are certain indulgences. This Hospital is situated just as one enters the Collachium on the left hand, and it was built by Don Anton de Fluvian, Grand Master of the Knights, who was a Catalan by birth. From there we went to see the city passing many streets and houses of the Knights, among them certain hostels where foreigners eat and have their places of meeting, each nation apart from the others, and a Knight has charge of each one of these hostels, and provides for the necessities of the inmates according to their religion.

Rhodes: Church of St. John with famous relics: At the end of the Knights' quarter, on the left hand, is the church of St. John, to which they constantly resort to say their office, and where they hold their council. In this church there are many relics, including, so they say, the

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basin in which Our Lord washed His hands, and a large share of the money for which He was sold, some of the thorns, a nail of the Cross, and many others, and when they elect the Grand Master, the Knights swear on these relics that, truly and without favour, they will elect the one most worthy to hold that office. In front of this church is the house of the Grand Master, an ordinary dwelling and not rich. There the Master is attended by twelve Knights, called companions, who take counsel with him and eat always at his board.

(Poor and sick are well received by the Knights). The fertility of the island: The island of Rhodes is reasonably well supplied with bread and wine, and with gardens. Most of the gardens are for the service of the Master's table, and he portions them out among the twelve companions who are with him. There is aslo a fortress in the island called Judigo. Much might be related of this noble company of Knights, but I leave them now to speak of other things.

Castelrosso: salt mines: Driving before the storm, we ran towards Castelrosso and reached there at three o'clock, and found that the galley had left scarcely two hours earlier. We landed there in a good harbour, and climbed to the fortress and rested, as became us after having escaped so great a peril. This castle belongs to the Knights of Rhodes, and is part of the province of Armenia, although an island. It is very rocky and no beast can climb it. Below, at the entrance to the harbour, are certain salt mines which are a source of great revenue to the Knights of Rhodes.

(The death of the Grand Master and the choice of his successor).

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Excursion from Chios to Troy: I remained in this island of Chios for twenty days and had nothing to do. I then departed for Turkey, which is only a short distance away, to a place called Foja-Vecchi~, which, they say, is one of the ports of Turkey, where there is a Genoese settlement, and I found there a friend of mine whom I had known in Seville, and I asked him, since he had some influence with the Turks, to send one of his people with me to Troy, and to hire horses for me, which he did. I travelled by land for two days to that place which they say was Troy, but found no one who could give me any information concerning it, and we came to Ilium, as they call it. This place is situated on the sea opposite the harbour of Tenedos. The whole of this country is strewn with villages, and the Turks regard the ancient buildings as relics and do not destroy anything, but they build their houses adjoining. That which made me understand that this was, indeed, ancient Troy, was the sight of such great ruined buildings, and so many marbles and stones, and that shore, and the harbour of Tenedos over against it, and a great hill which seemed to have been made by the fall of some huge building. But I could learn nothing further, and returned to Chios.

Mastic on Chios: Here I found my ship refitted, and in two days we set sail. The island of Chios yields much gum, and has been populated by the Genoese, who took it from the Greeks, and the rulers call themselves Mayoneses, and since they cannot defend the place, they pay tribute to the Genoese who raise their standard there. The Genoese have need of that island for their voyages to the Levant and the Dardanelles.

Mytilene - Tenedos, view on Troy: We departed and put out to sea, ..... and came to the island of Tenedos, where we anchored and disembarked. While the ship was being refitted we set out so see the island, which is some eight or ten miles about. There are many conies, and it is covered with vineyards, but they are all spoilt. The harbour of Tenedos looks so new that it might have been built to-day by a

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masterhand. The mole is made of great stones and columns, and here the ships have their moorings and excellent anchorage. There are other places where ships can anchor, but this is the best, since it is opposite the entrance to the Straits of Romania [Dardanelles]. Above the harbour is a great hill surmounted by a very strong castle . . . . . . No ship can enter the Straits without first anchoring there to find the entrance, which is very narrow, and the Turks, knowing how many ships touch there, arm themselves and lie in wait and kill many Christians. From there one sees many buildings of Troy, and certain Greeks who live there can even give some account of the place.

Through the Dardanelles - Gallipoli: The next day we departed, and sailing on we entered the Straits, which are very narrow. On the Turkish side the water is very shallow. These Straits are called the Dardanelles, and here was the door and harbour of Troy. On the side towards Greece the water is very deep. Here stands the tower of Vituperio where Achilles was found with Patroclus, or so they say that wish it so. In this place the Straits are so narrow that on a clear day one can see a standard raised on the other side. So, passing through these Straits, and leaving certain villages on the Turkish side and on the Greek side, we reached the city of Gallipoli, a notable place, and a good harbour with and excellent castle. This was the first place taken by the Turks when they passed over into Greece, and they left the wall and castle standing, which they did not do elsewhere, so that if they chanced to be defeated they could be succoured from there.

Sea of Marmara: We departed from Gallipoli and came to the Sea of Marmora, which is an inland circular sea of about eight leagues across, and they call it Marmora, because from it came all the marble for Constantinople, as well for the walls as for the city, and it belongs to the Greeks. From there we came to a town called Eregli, and to another called Silumbria, which two places the Turks allowed the Emperor to retain in times past out of courtesy and for his support.

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First Vlew of Constantinople: Departing from there, the next day at dawn, we saw a very high mountain, more than a hundred miles off, and they told us that it was St. Sophia, which is in Constantinople, and we came to a place about two miles from the city where we remained that night. The next morning I sent the boat to the city of Pera, to give news of my coming to the captain of a ship, called Juan Caro, a native of Seville, who was my good friend and whom I knew to be there.

Hagia Sophia: On the day following I went to the Despot, and asked him if he would be pleased to direct that I should be shown the church of St. Sophia and its relics, and he replied that he would do it with pleasure, and that he himself desired to go there to hear Mass, as did also the Empress and her brother, the real Emperor of Trebizond. We then went to the church to Mass, and afterwards they caused the church to be shown to me. It is very large and they say that in the days of the prosperity of Constantinople there were in it six thousand clergy. Inside, the circuit is for the most part badly kept, but the church itself is in such fine state that it seems to-day to have only just been finished. It is made in the Greek manner with many lofty chapels, roofed with lead, and inside there is a profusion of mosaic work to a spear's length from the ground. This mosaic work is so fine that not even a brush could attempt to better it. Below are very delicate stones, intermixed with marble, porphyry, and jasper, very richly worked. The floor is made of great stones, most delicately cut, which are very magnificent. In the centre of these chapels is the principal one which is very large; the height is such that it is difficult to believe that cement can hold it together. In this chapel there is similar mosaic work, with a figure of God the Father in the centre. From below it looks the size of an ordinary man, but they say that the foot is as long as a spear, and from eye to eye the distance is many spans in length. Here is the great altar, and here one can see all the grace and richness appertaining to geometry.

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A cistern of very large s1ze: Beneath this chapel there is a great cistern which, they say, could contain a ship of 3000 botas in full sail, the breadth, height and depth of water being all sufficient. I know not if such a statement can be supported, but I never saw a larger in my life and do not believe that one exists.

Display of the most important relics: The Despot and the others directed the clergy to bring out the holy relics. The Despot keept one key, and the Patriarch of Constantinople, who was there, the other. The third is kept by the Prior of the church . . . . . . . . .

Statue of Justinian I: As we came out we saw at the door of the church a great column of stone, higher than the great chapel itself, and on the top is a great horse of gilded brass, upon which is a knight with one arm raised, pointing with the finger towards Turkey, and in the other he holds an orb, as a sign that all the world is in his hand. One day it was blown down in a great storm, and the orb fell from the hand, and they say that it is as large as a 15 gallon jar, but from below it looks like an orange, so that one can judge how high the statue is. They say that to secure that orb, and to fasten the horse with chains, to prevent its being blown down in the high winds, cost 8000 ducats. This knight, they say, is Constantine, and that he prognosticated that from that quarter which he indicated with his finger would come the destruction of Greece, and so it was.

Area around the Hagia Sophia: That day we were occupied until midday admiring that church and its circuit. Outside this church are great squares with houses where they are accustomed to sell wine and bread and fish, and more shell-fish than anything else, since the Greeks are in the habit of eating them. In certain times of fasting during the year they do not only confine themselves to fish,

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but to fish without blood, that is, shell-fish. Here they have great tables of stone where they eat, both rulers and common people, together.

The icon of Mary painted by St. Luke: (in the H. Mary Hodegetria): The Despot and the Empress and her brother then returned to the Palace, and I went to my lodging. The next day I went to the church of St. Mary, where the body of Constantine is buried. In this church is a picture of Our Lady the Virgin, made by St. Luke, and on the other side is Our Lord crucified. It is painted on stone, and with the frame and stand it weighs, they say, several hundredweight. So heavy is it as a whole that six men cannot lift it.

(The weekly procession with this icon through the city) Ruins of the Blachernae church: There was a church at Constantinople, not so large as St. Sophia, but, as they say, much richer, which St. Helena built, desiring greatly to show her power. At the entrance were certain arches which were very dark, and they say that people were found there frequently committing the offence of sodomy, and one day a thunder-bolt fell from Heaven and set fire to the church, and not one of those who was surprised in that sin was spared. The church they called Valayerna, and it is to-day so burnt that it cannot be repaired.

Pantocrator church and monastery: There is also a monastery, called Pentecatro, which belongs to the monks of ~he Order of St. Basil (there is no other Order in those parts), and this also is very richly adorned with gold mosaics. In it are the vessels which were filled with wine at the marriage of Architeclinos, and many other relics, and it is the burial place of the Emperors. On one side of the city, towards the sea and over against Turkey, is a monastery for women, on a wall, called St. Demetrius, and

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one can see Turkey across the narrowest part of the Straits.

Chain

across the Bosporus:

Opposite to it on the Turkish side there is a tower where a chain was streched from one side to the other, and when it was made fast the ships could not pass. This was done partly for display, and partly in order not to lose the tolls which were collected there, and this they call the Arm of St. George. At one part the Straits are so narrow that one can see a man passing on the opposite shore. Moreover, the sea is very shallow on the Turkish side, and so deep on the Greek side that a ship of any size, and however large, can lie against the walls of Constantinople, so that it looks as if one could jump from the walls on to the ship.

Hippodrome and serpentine column: There is in Constantinople a great place made by hand, with porticoes and gateways, and arches below, where the people used in ancient times to watch the games when they celebrated their holidays, and in the centre are two snakes entwined, made of gilded brass, and they say that wine poured from the mouth of one and milk from the other. But no one can remember this, and it seems to me that too much credit must not be attached to the story.

Statue of the Just: There is a statue of a man in the centre of this square, also of gilded brass, and they say that when merchants could not agree as to price they consented to go to this statue, which they called the Just, and what it signified as correct by shutting the hand, that was the true price of the goods, and both parties accepted it. There was once a nobleman who had a horse which was valued at 300 ducats, and a gentlemen of those parts desired to buy it, and they could not agree on the price. They arranged, therefore, to go to the statue to determine the question, and they went there, and the purchaser took out some ducats and laid one in the hand of the statue, which thereupon shut its hand, giving to understand that the horse was not worth

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more, and the purchaser had the horse and the seller the ducat, but the seller was so incensed that he took out his scimitar and cut off the statue's hand, and after that it never judged again. When the buyer reached home the horse fell dead, and the hide and shoes fetched just a ducat. But I would place more faith in anything found in the Evangelists.

Baths (of Zeuxippus?): On the other side of this square is a bath with doors on either side opposite each other, and any woman accused of adultery was ordered by the judges to be brought there, and they made her go in by one door and come out at the other, and if she was innocent her skirts and chemise raised themselves on high without her perceiving it, so that from the middle downwards everything could be seen. This also it may be no sin to doubt.

Obelisk of Theodosius: In the centre of this square there is an obelisk made of a single stone, in the same manner as that at Rome, where are the ashes of Julius Caesar, but in fact it is not like that one, nor is it fine nor ancient. They say that it was made for the body of Constantine. There are also many buildings about this square, and inside it, and they call it the Hippodrome.

Situation of the city; strenght of the walls: The city of Constantinople is made like a triangle, two parts in the sea and one on land. It is very strongly walled in a way that is a marvel to see. They say that the Turks came there and put the city in great straits, and he that had charge of the mines was amazed, and said to the Grand Turk; "Lord, this city is not to be taken by mining, for the walls are of steel and will never fall". (This was said because the walls are very high and are made of great marble blocks bound together).

702

PERO TAFUR

Legend of the protection of the city by an angel on horseback: But as the Grand Turk was continuing his attempt, they told him that they had seen a man on horseback riding on the wall. He then asked a Greek who had been captured what this marvel was which they saw each night, namely, a knight riding round the ramparts on a horse, fully armed. He replied: "Lord, "the Greeks say as follows: when Constantine built his church, "many men were employed on the work, and one day, as all were "going to dinner, the chief master-builder ordered a child to ''stay and guard the tools. The child did so, and a very beauti"ful man on horseback appeared and said to him: 'Why do you not "go to eat with the others?' and the child replied: 'Lord, they "ordered me to remain here to guard the tools.' But the horse"man replied: 'Go and eat', and the child replied that he dare "not. Whereupon the horseman said: 'Go without fear. I promise "'you that I will guard the church and the city until you "'return. ' And the child went, but afterwards, being afraid of "punishment, he did not return, so that the horseman remained "in fulfilment of his promise, and they say that it was an "angel." But it might be said now that the child had returned, and the angel had ceased his guard, for the city is now captured and occupied. But for that time the Turk departed.

The palace of the emperor: The Emperor's Palace must have been very magnificent, but now it is in such state that both it and the city show well the evils which the people have suffered and still endure. At the entrance to the Palace, beneath certain chambers, is an open loggia of marble with stone benches round it, and stones, like tables, raised on pillars in front of them placed end to end. Here are many books and ancient writings and histories, and on one side are gaming boards so that the Emperor's house may always be well supplied. Inside, the house is badly kept, except certain parts where the Emperor, the Empress, and attendants can live, although cramped for space.

703

PERO TAFUR

Maintenance of the court ceremonial difficult circumstances:

~n

The Emperor's state is as splendid as ever, for nothing is omitted from the ancient ceremonies, but, properly regarded, he is like a Bishop without a See. When he rides abroad all the Imperial rites are strictly observed. The Empress rides astride, with two stirrups, and when she desires to mount, two lords hold up a rich cloth, raising their hands aloft and turning their back upon her, so that when she throws her leg across the saddle no part of her person can be seen. The Greeks are great hunters with falcons, goshawks, and dogs. The country is well stocked with game both for hawking and hunting, and there are quantities of pheasants, francolins, partridges, and hares. The land is flat and good for riding.

Population of the city: The city is sparsely populated. It is divided into districts, that by the sea-shore having the largest population. The inhabitants are not well clad, but sad and poor, showing the hardship of their lot which is, however, not so bad as they deserve, for they are a vicious people, steeped in sin. It is their custom when anyone dies not to open the door of the house for the whole of that year except in case of necessity. They go continually about the city howling as if in lamentation, and thus they long ago foreshadowed the evil which has befallen them.

Harbour and docks: On one side of the city is the dockyard. It is close to the sea, and must have been very magnificent; even now it is sufficient to house the ships. In the quarter over against Pera is a mole made by hand, where the ships are fastened. Here the salt water comes in and meets a river which enters the sea at that place. The distance from there to Pera is twice as far as a man could cast a stone. When the ships come to Pera to traffic with the Genoese, they first salute Constantinople and pay tribute, and criminal justice is administered from Constantinople for Pera and the whole country. These harbours of entry, the one and the other, are always full of ships, on account of the great cargoes which they discharge and load.

704

PERO TAFUR

Great fear in the city occasioned by the passage of a Turkish army close by the walls: During my stay in the city the Grand Turk marched forth to a place on the Black Sea, and his road took him close to Constantinople. The Despot and those of Pera, thinking that the Turks were going to occupy the country, prepared and armed themselves. The Grand Turk passed close by the wall, and there was some skirmishing that day, and he passed with a great company of people. I had the good fortune to see him in the field, and I observed the manner in which he went to war, and his arms, horses and accoutrements. I am of opinion that if the Turks were to meet the armies of the West they could not overcome them, not because they are lacking in strength, but because they want many of the essentials of war. On this day a great present was carried from Constantinople and taken to the place where the Turks were stationed. I thought that they would sit down and besiege the city, but they continued their march to the Black Sea against a people which had rebelled. It was, indeed, what I desired, for we had but few men, and it would have been difficult to make much resistance. It was, therefore, a gratifying thing to see so great a host depart without peril or labour. Would to God that the people of our country were closer at hand, for there are here neither ships nor fortresses, nor is there any protection except by fighting.

(Excursion to Brusa:) Pera (Galata): The city of Pera has about 2000 inhabitants. It is very well walled and has a good ditch and rampart. The churches and monasteries are excellent, and there is a fine exchange, well built and enclosed. The buildings are notable and lofty, as in Genoa. The common people are Greeks, but they are governed by the Genoese who hold all the offices. It is a place of much traffic in goods brought from the Black Sea, as well as from the West, and from Syria and Egypt, and the merchants are all wealthy. Pera was formerly called Galata.

PERO TAFUR

705

The monasteries on Mount Athos: We then sailed away and turned towards Greece, taking the route for Salonica. In the sea is a very lofty island, which they call Monte Santo, which the Grand Turk, father of the present one, essayed to capture, but the plague fell on his host, and he was constrained to order all the damage he had done to be repaired, and to make provision for those that live there. The place is ordered on this wise. There is a monastery at the foot of the mountain, another half way up, and a third at the top, and they receive there no one unless he is a noble by birth or has borne arms, or is old and infirm, or maimed. These come to this place and are received and entertained in the first monastery. The monks observe closely how they live, and if they live well, they send them up by election to the monastery in the centre. Here the same rule applies, and when it appears that they are worthy, the monks send them up again to the third and last monastery. They say that those who inhabit there have a great reputation for holiness, and the place is a great resort for pilgrims, and receives much in alms. But those who visit the place are only shown the first monastery. The monks are all Greeks, of the habit and Order of St. Basil. They not only eschew meat, but all fish having blood.

(The recent capture of Thessalonica by the Turks).

WALERAND DE WAVRIN

706

1444

Walerand de Wavrin.

Title Author

Motive Date Stay in Greece, Asia Minor Visit to

Jean de Wavrin, French chronicler about his uncle, the Burgundian admiral Walerand de Wavrin. preparations for the crusade of Philip the Good. 1444-1445. 1444-1445. Black Sea area (Mangalia) and Hellespont/Dardanelles with Troy.

Remarks

visit to the place of the ancient city of Troy.

Text Edition

in the chronicle of Jean de Wavrin. W. Hardy - E.L. Hardy, Recueil des

croniques et anciennes istories de la grant Bretaigne 3 a present nomme Engleterre par Jehan de Waurin V, 3

3

from A.D. 1447 to A.D. 1471, London, 1891.

Troy: ilz partirent du port de Venise le vingt deusieme jour de Jullet lan mil quatre cens et (chincquante trois, 1 ) et le seigneur de Wavrin environ la fin dudit mois et tant naga quil vint a Thenedon ung port de mer la ou jadis les princes de Grece lesquelz alloient assegier Troyes prindrent terre: et quant le seigneur de Wavrin sceut que cestoit le mesmes port ou les Grecz avoient arrive, il demanda a aulcuns quy scavoient ces marches, se le lieu ou la grant cite de Troyes avoit este scituee estoit gueres loingz de la, lesquelz luy dirent quil ne povoit passer oultre le destroit sans transverser devant le port de Dardanelle quy jadis avoit este le havre principal de la grande cite Troyenne, la ou les Grecz estoient descendus. 1

this number is a mistake, it has to be: quarante quatre.

WALERAND DE WAVRIN

707

Mangalia on the coast of the Black Sea: legend of the Amazons: Et arriverent a ung port appele Panguala lequel estoit bien estrange; et maintient on que Panthesilee royne d'Amazonnes le fist faire aprez que Hercules et Theseus eurent entre audit royaulme celeement et combattre Ypolite et Menalipe.

708

c. 1450

IBN AL-WARDI

Sarageddin Abu Hafs Omar Ibn al-Wardi.

Title Author Motive Date

Arab geographer. cosmographical compilation work. in the middle of the 15th century but before 1453.

Stay in Greece, Constantinople, Asia Minor Visit to Remarks

almost completely traditional description of Constantinople.

Text Edition

many MSS and Turkish translations. the fragment about the city of Constantinople in: F. Taeschner, 'Der Bericht des arabischen Geographen Ibn al-Wardi liber Konstantinopel', Beitrage zur histori-

schen Geographie~ Kulturgeographie~ Ethnographie und Kartographie~ vornehmlich des Orients~ H. Mzik (ed.), Leipzig-Vienna, 1929, pp. 84-91.

Constantinople, situation of the city; strength of the walls: Zu den berlihmten Stadten der Rhomaer gehort Konstantinopel (,Qostantinijja). Die Stadt ist von dreieckiger Gestalt, zwei Seiten liegen am Meere, eine Seite nach dem Festlande zu: dort liegt das 'Bab ag-gahab' ("das Goldene Tor"). Die Lange (gemeint is wohl "Umfang") dieser Stadt betragt 9 Meilen. Sie hat eine feste Mauer von 21 Ellen Hohe. Darum ist eine weitere Mauer, die man ,al-Fa~il ("kleinere Aussenmauer") nennt, von 10 Ellen Hohe. Die Mauer hat 100 Tore, von denen das grosste 'al-Bab al-mul?mat' (oder •al-mul?ammat', "das festgeschlossene Tor" ist; es ist vergoldet.

IBN AL-WARDI

709

Hippodrome: In der Stadt ist das Schloss, das zu den Weltwundern gehort; und zwar deshalb, weil in ihm ein ,Badidun' ist, d.h. soviel wie der Vorraum zum Schloss; dies ist eine Gasse, in der man zwischen zwei Reihen von Bildwerken aus Erz, von ausgezeichneter Kunst nach Gestalten von Menschen Pferden, Elefanten, reissenden Tieren und anderem hindurchgeht. Diese Bildwerke sind grosser als die Nachbildungen, die den Vorbildern entsprechen (d.h. die Bildwerke des Hippodroms sind liberlebensgross). Im Schloss und ringsherum sind noch vielerlei solche Wunder.

Columns and obelisks; obelisk of Theodosius; stone obelisk of Constantinus Porphyrogenitus: In der Stadt ist ein durch Eisen und Blei befestigter Turm (,manara'). Wenn der Wind sich erhebt, neigt er sich nach rechts und links, nach hinten und vorn von seinem Standpunkt; man legt Tonware darunter, und er zermalmt sie zu Staub. In der Stadt ist ferner noch ein Turm aus Erz, aus einem einzigen Stuck bestehend, ohne eine Tlir.

Statue of Justinian I: Ferner ist ein Turm in der Stadt, in der Nahe des Siechenhauses,1ganz mit gelbem Erz wie mit Gold verkleidet, van guter Machart und Ausarbeitung. Darauf ist das Grab Konstantins, des Grlinders Konstantinopels; auf seinem Grabe steht die eherne Statue eines Pferdes, und auf dem Pferde sitzt eine Person van der Gestalt Konstantins, er reitet und die Flisse des Pferdes sind fest in Blei eingelassen, ausser seinem rechten Vorderfusse; dieser steht in der Luft. Er hat seine rechte Hand, welche in die Richtung nach den Landern der Muslime weist, erhoben, und in seiner linken Hand ist eine Kugel. Diesen Turm kann man auf eine Tagereise zur See und eine halbe Tagereise zu Lande sehen. 1

in other Arab sources the Hagia Sophia is mentioned.

710

IBN AL-WARDI

Man sagt, in seiner Hand sei ein Talisman, der den Feind abwehrt, und dass auf der Kugel auf griechisch geschrieben steht: ,Ich beherrschte die Welt, bis sie in meiner Hand wie diese Kugel war; und ich bin nun ebenso aus der Welt gegangen, ohne etwas von ihr zu besitzen.'

Column of Theodosius; aqueduct of Valens: Ferner ist in der Stadt ein Turm auf dem Markte ,Istabrin aus weissem Marmor; von oben bis unten sind Figuren angebracht, und sein Gelander ist aus einem Stuck von Erz. 2 Dort ist ein Talisman: wenn jemand zu diesem hinaufsteigt, so blickt er in die librige Stadt. Auch ist eine Brlicke dort, die zu den Weltwundern gehort; ihre Weite setzt den Berichterstatter dermassen ausserstande, sie zu beschreiben, dass er soweit kommt, der Llige geziehen zu werden. Endlich sind Bilder darin soviel, dass sie nicht zu beschreiben sind.

2

with an iron railing.

INDEX A

Abdul Ham.id II, sultan, 19th c. (1876-1918), 453-4 n. 142. Aboulfeda, geographer, 1273-1331, 152, 202, 253, 256, 556-7. Abydos, 24. Academy (in Athens), 155. Acciajuoli, Florentine family, 109-10, 134, 206-7, 211, 212, 215. See also: Angelo II, Niccolo, Franco, Antonio I, Lapa, Nerio I and II. Achaea, 131. Achaea, principality of, 81, 109, 212, 215, 220. Acheron, 185. Achilles, 216. Achilles and Patroclus, legend of, 56, 193. Acre, (Akko), 65, 86. Acrostichon, 135. Adamnanus, Scottish Abbot, 7th c., 14. Adam, Wilhelmus, (arch)bishop, 14th c., see Brocardus. Adelard of Bath, philosopher, ea. 1080- ea. 1145, 156. Adolf von Harff, pilgrim, 15th c., 178. Adornes; Jean, traveller, 15th c., 343 n. 95. Adrianople, 56, 94, 193. Adriatic Sea, 13, 32, 194, 219. Aegae, 18. Aegaleus, mountain in Attica, 42. Aegina, 201. Aelianus, Claudius, miscellaneous writer, ea. 175- ea. 235, 200. Aeneid, 94, 193, 295. Aenus, 94, 193. Aetheria, see Egeria. Agam.emnon, 216, 224. Agnes of France, wife of Alexius II and Andronicus I, daughter of Louis VII, 12th/13th c., 7. Alaric, leader of the Visigoths, ea. 370-410, 197, 415 n. 8. Albertus Magister, author of Annales Stadenses, 20-1. Albrecht II, German emperor, 1438-39, 62. Albrecht III, duke of Bavaria, 15th c., 122. Alexander the Great, king, 336-24 BC., 49, 50, 76, 80, 122, l90, 192, 213, 215, 216, 297, 311. Alexander, Byzantine emperor, 912-3, 382 n. 42. Alexander IV, pope, 1409-10, 133. Alexander, Russian scribe, 14th c., 605.

712

TRAVELLERS TO GREECE AND CONSTANTINOPLE

Alexandria (Egypt), l4, 38, 40, 228, 242. Alexandria Troas, l23, 293. Alexius I, Byzantine emperor, l081-1l18, 65, 72, l06, 115, 284. Alexius II, Byzantine emperor, 1l80-83, 7. Alexius III Angelus, Byzantine emperor, 1l95-l203, ll4, 261. Alexius V Ducas (Murzuphlus), Byzantine emperor, l204, 7l, 74, 79, 279. Alfonso IV, king of Aragon, 1327-36, 26. Alfonso Fadrique, Aragonese governor of Athens, son of Frederick II of Aragon, l4th c., l18. Alfonso Paez de Santa Maria, ambassador, l4th-l5th c., 99. Alps, l5. Altaluogo (= Ephesus), l76-7. Altaner, B, l71. Amadeus VI, count of Savoy, l343-83, 90, 205, 2l0. Amalfi, 5, 7, l6, l06, 19~. Amazons, 88, 96, 30l. Ampelouzas (near Gortyn), 54, 229-32. Anastasius, Byzantine emperor, 49l-518, 4. Anatolia, 65. Anatolica (near Missolonghi), 24. Ancona, 5, 16, 6l, l76. Andronicus II Palaeologus, Byzantine emperor, l282-l328 (d.l332), 98, ll6, l17, l26, l65, 253. Andronicus III Palaeologus, Byzantine eo-emperor, 1316-28, emperor, l328-4l, 28, l64. Andros, ~35, l46. Angelo II Acciajuoli, (roman) cardinal, l384-l408, 2l5. Angelos, (legendary) brother of Justin II, llO. Angevins, French dynasty in Naples, l266-l442, see also Charles I, l09, l95, 2l2. Angiolello, Giovanni Maria, l5th c., 276, 455 n. l58. Anglo-Saxons, l13, ~14, l83. Anglure, Seigneur de, pilgrim, l4th c., 202. Angora (Ancyra, Ankara), 91, 99, l21 1 464 n. l. Anna Comnena, Byzantine princess, 1083- after l148, l58. Anne of Savoy, wife of Andronicus III Palaeologus, 14th c., 370 n. 138. Anonymous, Armenian, pilgrim, ~4th-l5th c., 23, 257-8, 261, 281, 327, 606-8. Anonymous, of Bordeaux, pilgrim, 4th c., ~3. Anonymous of Munich, 15th c., 254. Anonymous, Russian, pilgrim, l4th c., 23, 59, 102, 258, 259, 267, 269, 270, 27l, 274, 280, 282, 288, 289, 305, 600-4.

INDEX

713

Anonymous of Venice, ea. 1470, 310. Anonymous of Vienna, 15th c., 309-10. Antapodosis, 98. Anthony of Novgorod, pilgrim, ea. 1204, 257, 259, 260, 288, 538-9. Antiochia, 68, 250. Antiochus IV Epiphanes, king of Syria, 175-163 BC., 46. Antipater, Macedonian general, 397-319 BC., 215. Antoni Ballester, archbishop of Athens, 14th c., 205. Antonio I Acciajuoli, Duke of Athens, 1403-35, 206. Antonio Fluviano, grandmaster of the hospitallers, 1421-37, 55. Antwerp, 249. Aphrodite, statue of, see also Venus, 221 Apollo, 146, 195, 269. Apollonia, 18. Apollonius of Tyana (Bolonious), died ea. 97, 121, 164, 289, 316. Apulia, 27, 51, 156, 186. Arabs, 6, 105, 108, 119-20, 132, 150-4, 185, 189, 198-9, 227, 229, 242, 243, 274, 290. Aragon, 117, 118-9, 204-5. Arcadia, 225, 313. Archanes, 234. Archip~lago (Islands of Aegean Sea), 38-9, 81, 88, 134, 136, 137, 138, 140, l43-8, 152, 199, 217, 239-48, 319. Arculf, Bishop, pilgrim, 7th c., 3, 6, 14, 253, 255, 257, 327, 481-3. Arethas of Caesarea, lOth c., l85. Arghun, khan of Persia, l284-91, 98. Aristotle, philosopher, 384-322 BC., 28, 42-3, 157, 174, 191, 3ll. Aries, 5. Armiro, 24, 189. Artemis, 301. Ascanius, 233. Assaf ben Barkhya, 165, 258. Assisi, 53. Athena (Parthenos), 1, 207, 243. Athens, 1-2, 17, 24, 27, 33, 37, 38, 41, 42-7, 48, 51, 52, 64, 81, 82, 85, 88, 90, 107, 110, 111, 113, 118, 125, l26, 131, 132, 138, 152, 155, 156, 157-9, 171, 175, 176, 186, 197-208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 215, 224, 225, 233, 293, 305, 306, 308, 313-4, 317, 318. Athens, duchy of, and Neopatras, Burgundian: 1205-1311, Catalan: 1311-88, 81, 116, 118.

714

TRAVELLERS TO GREECE AND CONSTANTINOPLE

Athens, Acropolis, 1-2, 42, 43, 44-6, 110, 118, 197, 198, 202, 203, 205-6, 207, 212, 308, 313-4, 320, 322. Agora, 201, 203. Aqueduct of Hadrian, 43. Areopagus, 131. Bridge on Ilyssus, 44. Capella de San Bartomeu (= Pinacotheca), 204. Dipylon gate 1 cemetery, 203. Gate of Hadrian, 42, 43-4. Gorgoneion, 46. Lycabettus, 43. Monument of Lysicrates, 47. Monument of Thrasyllus, 43, 46. Olympieion, 43, 203, 204. Parthenon, 1-2, 41, 45-6, 198, 199, 200, 203, 204-5, 207, 313-4, 320, 327. Pinacotheca, 45. Propylaea palace, 44-5, 84, 203, 204, 207, 320. Seu de Santa Maria de Cetines (=Parthenon), 205. Statue of Athena Promachos, 203. Stoa of Attalus, 203. Studium Aristotelis, 43. Theatre of Dionysus, 43, 46. Theseion, 47, 203, 313. Tower of the winds, 47. Athos (Hagion Oros), 61, 101, 144, 169, 191-2. Athos, Iviron monastery, 407 n. 44. Attica, 17, 41-2, 90, 131, 197, 200, 205, 208. Augustus, Roman emperor, 31 BC - 14 AD, 297. Avars, 312. Avignon, 26, 32, 110, 180-1, 308. Aymo of Faversham, 553. B

Babylonian Exile, 1309-77, 308. Bacchus, 146. Bacon, Roger, philosopher, ea. 1210-92, 156, 160, 175. Bagdad, 24, 25, 108, 249, 372 n. 8. Baiae, 307, 322. Baile (= Venetian governor), 107, 217. Baldewin von Steinfurth, bishop of Paderborn, 1341-61, 342 n. 80. Baldwin I, count of Flanders, Latin emperor of Constantinople, 1194-1205, 71, 81, 82, 159, 193. Baleares, 137.

INDEX

715

Balkans, 5, 6, 7, 13, 16, 32, 63, 66, 87, 94, 95, 108, 115, 189, 190. Barbyzes, river near Constantinople, 255. Bari, 16, 98, 176, 301. Barlaam and Joasaph, mediaeval tale of 407 n. 44. Barlaam of Seminars, Greek theologian, ea. 1290-1350, 175, Barletta, 72, 111. Bartolomeo da li Sonetti, Venetian geographer, 15th c., 138. Bartolf of Nangis, chronicler 12th c., 67, 505-6. Basel, Council of, 1431-42, see also Ferrara - Florence, Council of, 56, 181, 254, 357 n. 234. Basil I, Byzantine emperor, 867-86, 259. Basil II, Byzantine eo-emperor, 963-76, emperor 976-1025, 7, 106, 113-4, 198, 313-4. Bayaloun, 164, 398 n. 11. Bayazet I, Ottoman sultan, 1389-1402, d. 1403, 91, 99, 121, 123, 314. Beazley, C.R., 27, 30. Bede Venerable, theologian-historian, 672-735, 14, 255. Bellerophon (and Chimaira), 216. Belon du Mans, Pierre, traveller, 16th c., 231, 237. Benedetto Folco da Forli, Milanese ambassador, 15th c., 93. Benedetto Zaccaria, Lord of Phocaea and Chios, 13th c., 239. Benedict XII, pope, 1334-42, 26. Benedictines, 125. Benjamin of Tudela, rabbi-pilgrim, 12th c., 24-5, 189, 190, 195, 199, 210, 212, 215, 217, 249, 259, 266, 268, 284, 527-33. Benoit de Sainte Maure, poet, 12th c., 295. Berardus, Latin archbishop of Athens, ea. 1206, 158, 201, 202. Berat, Battle of, 1281, 216, 285. Berengarius II, king of Italy, ea. 945/950 - 963, d. 966, 97. Bernardus Sapiens, pilgrim, 9th c., 334 n. 5. Bertha von Sulzbach, (= Irene), wife of Manuel I, 12th c., 7. Bertrandon de la Broquiere, ambassador- pilgrim, 15th c., 925, 186, 193, 195, 228, 236, 249, 250, 251, 254, 260, 262, 265, 267, 269, 271, 274, 277, 284, 286, 291, 326, 681-9. Bible, 130, 131, 172, 189, 199, 212, 214, 285, 293, 326. Bissina, 24. Black Sea, 16, 19, 61, 80, 95-6, 107-8, 187, 193. Boardman, J., 241. Boccaccio, Giovanni, poet, 1313-75, 138, 307. Bologna, 53, 180. Bonifatius I, marquis of Montferrat, 1192-1207, 72, 74, 81, 201, 227, 283.

716

TRAVELLERS TO GREECE AND CONSTANTINOPLE

Bordeaux, J.3. Boschini, Italian geographer, 17th c., 392 n. 96. Bosporus, 14, 66, 122, 1.92, 250. Boucicaut, Jean II le Meingre, marshal of France, d. 1421, 91. Bovenschen, A., 167. Brachium Sancti Georgii = Dardanelles. Bracken, C.P., 31.1. Brehier, L., 5. Breslau, 62. Breuning von und zu Buochenbach, Hans Jacob, pilgrim, 16th c., 335 n. 16, 424 n. 88. Brindisi, J.8. Brocardus (Burchardus), J.4th c., see also Adam, Wilhelmus, 87-8, 95, 251, 253-4, 283, 290, 301., 564-6. Brock, S., 257. Brown, E.A.R., 1.25. Brunetto Latini, Florentine writer, ea. 1.220-94, 1.69. Brusa (Prusa-Bursa), 6J., 93, 1.23, 298-9, 468 n. 31. Brussels, 62. Buchan Telfer, J., 1.22. Bulgaria- Bulgarians, 5, 7, 90, 11.3, 1.85, 1.90, 1.98, 287, 31.2' 31.3. Bulgaroctonus, see Basil II, Buondelmonti, Christoforo, Florentine geographer, J.5th c., 2, 54, 58, 1.33-50, 1.60, 1.69, 1.90, 192, 1.94-5, 221, 228, 229, 230, 234, 235, 236, 239, 240-1, 242-4, 246, 247-8, 250, 252, 254, 255-6, 258, 259, 261, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 274, 276, 277, 279, 280, 281., 283, 288-9, 294, 298-9, 304, 305, 308, 314, 31.8, 640-70. Buondelmonti family, see als Lorenzo Magdalena Manente Rainerio Burchard II, Abbot of Sankt Gallen, lOth c., 1.74. Burgundio of Pisa, J.2th c., 1.09, 179-80. Busbecq, Augier Ghislain de, ambassador, J.6th c., 464 n. 1. Byzantium, see Constantinople.

c Caesarea (Cappadocia), 464 n. J.. Caiaphas, jewish high-priest, J.stc.AD, 234-5. Callicrates, architect, 5th c. BC., 2. Candia (Iraklion), 17, 54, 8J., 1.26, 140, 142, 227, 228, 229, 234, 235.

INDEX

717

Candia, Island of, see Crete, Capo delle Colonne, see Sounion, Cappuyns, M., 156. Capua, 44, 45, 243, 308. Caracalla, Roman emperor, (198-) 211-7, 112. Carinola, 37, 345 n. 111. Carlo Tocco, Count of Cefalonia, 14th-15th c., 47, 49, 50, 350 n. 157. Cartography, 129-33. Casal Cagiafa, (Cretan village), 234. Casola, Pietro (Canon), pilgrim, 15th c., 21. Cassandrea, 89. Castrum fata morgane (Euboea), 47. Catalan company, 1302~ ea. 1387, 116-9, 204-5. Catalans, 40, 51, 107, 110, 116-9, 132, 202, 204-5, 210. Cefalonia, 126, 134, 194. Cephisus, river, 48, 116, 204, 209 Cerigo (Cythera), 17, 38, 54, 99, 146, 220-2, 310, 317, 322. Chalcedon, 101. Chalcidice, 144. Chandler, R., traveller, 18th c., 240-1. Chanea (Canea), 126, 140, 228. Chares of Lindus, architect of the Colossus, 4th/3th c. BC., 436 n. 20 Charlemagne, emperor, 768-8~4, see also Pelerinage de Ch. 8, 60, 76, 80, 286, 304. Charles I of Anjou, king of Naples and Sicily, 1268-82 (~285), ·prince of Achaea 1278-85, 82, ~86, 2~6. Charles II of Anjou, king of Naples, ~285-1309, prince of Achaea ~285-89, 403 n. ~9. Charles VI, king of France, 1380-1422, 90. Chartres, 434 n. 42. Chaucer, Geoffrey, poet, 1343 (?)-~400, ~16. Cherson (Crimea), 198. Chersonesos (Crete), ~42. Chios, 24, 27, 29, 33, 38, 55, 146, 152, 239-42, 294, 3~0, 3~7. Chios, Daskal6petra, 240. Schola of Homer, 240-1, 314. Tomb of Homer, 139, ~46, 240-1. Chosroes II, king of Persia, 59~-628, 77. Christopolis, 24. Chronicle of the Anargyri Monastery, ~97. Chronicle of the Morea, ~~8, 225. Chronicle of Novgorod, 259, 36~ n. 40. Church-union, 66, 87, 92, 94, 100, ~25-7, ~79, l80, 181.

718

TRAVELLERS TO GREECE AND CONSTANTINOPLE

Cicero, M. Tullius, 106-43 BC., 155. Cistercians, 125. Clarentia, l26. Clarissans (nuns), 47. Claudianus, Roman poet, 4th-5th c., 23l. Clavijo, Ruy Gonzales de, ambassador, 14th-15th c., 99-100, 122, 191-2, 222, 254, 257, 258, 259, 260, 262-5, 267, 268, 270, 271, 273, 274, 285, 287, 288, 289, 291, 293, 623-36. Clermont, 66. Coelestinus I, pope, 422-32, l73. Colchis, 96. Cologne (Koln), 27, 249. Colonia Julia Nobilis, see Knossos. Colossians, 39, l45, l69, 242. Compostela, Santiago de, 9, 13, 19, ll5. Conrad III, German king, 1l3S-52, 67. Conrad, archbishop of Ephesus, 14th c., l8l. Constans, Byzantine emperor, 64l-68, l98. Constantina, of Athens, learned woman, l2th c., 157-8, 20l. Constantine I, Emperor, 306-37, l3, 15, 53, 57, 59, 77, 80, 93, 98, l02, 122, 148, 153, 165, 256, 258, 261, 262, 267, 271, 276-7, 280-1, 3ll, 314. Constantine V, Byzantine emperor, 74l-75, 76, 297. Constantine VIII Porphyrogenitus, Byzantine emperor 9l3-20, 944-59, eo-emperor: 920-44, 270. Constantine VIII, Byzantine emperor, l025-8, 106. Constantine IX Monomachus, Byzantine emperor, l042-55, 241, 264, 290. Constantine XI Palaeologus, Byzantine emperor, 1449-53, Dragas, despotes, 57, 354 n. 203. Constantine Palaeologus, prince l3th-l4th c., 264. Constantine Manasses, poet and chronicler, l2th c., 3ll. Constantine, pope, 767-9, 467 n. 26. Constantinople, passim, Constantinople, Anemodoulion, 289. Aqueduct, l2l, 153, 287-8. Augusteion, 57, 59, l49, 269, 27l-8, 453 n. 132. Baths (thermae) of Zeuxippus, 59, 27l, 288-9, 3l6. Blachernae church, 58, 94, 264-5, 284, 285-6. Blachernae palace 25, 72, 73, 74, 76, 77, 94, 102, l15, l65, 25l, 255, 262, 282, 284-5. Bucoleon palace (Bocca di Leone; Boche di Lion; os Leonis), see also crypt with bones of Franks, 72, 73, 74, 76, 88, 94, l50, 283-4, 286.

INDEX

719

Church of St. John in Petra I Prodromos monastery, 262, 336 n. 22. Church of St. John in Stoudion = Imrahor Djami, 99, 264, 448 n. 84. Church of Mary Hodegetria, 265. Church and Monastery of Mary Peribleptos, 447 n. 77. = Sulu Monastir, 263-4. Church of Mary of the phare, 76, 282, 382 n. 40. Church of Saint Mocius, 314. Church of the Saints Sergius and Bacchus, 382 n. 40. Church of Saint Stephen in Daphne, 382 n. 40. Cisterns, 57, 116, 148, 165, 259, 287-8. Cistern of Philoxenos (of Muhammed) = Binbirdirek, 288. Column. of Arcadius, 78-9, 149, 278-80, 316. Column of the Augusteion see Statue of Justinian. Column of Constantine, 102, 149, 269, 278, 280. Column of Michael VIII, 149, 281. Column of serpents, 58, 93, 99, 102, 121, ~49, 269-70, 289, 320. Column of Theodosius I, 78-9, 149, 278-80, 316. Crypt with bones of Franks, 88, 94, 150, 283-4. Forum Amastrianum, 121. Forum Tauri, 149, 278. Golden Gate, 77, 115, 120, 164, 252, 253. Golden Horn, 16, 25, 60, 75, 87, 106, 107, 165, 250, 251, 254, 255, 284, 290. Gyrolimne gate, 77, 253. Hagia Sophia, 14, 18, 25, 28, 32, 56, 57-8, 63, 71, 76, 84, 88, 83, 98, 99, 101, 102, 115, 116, 120, 122-3, 148, 163, 164, 165, 168, 203, 254, 256-60, 266, 271, 278, 283, 288, 289, 311, 312-3, 320, 327, 336 n. 22. Hagii Apostoli, 15, 77, 148, 149, 261, 272, 281, 287, 311, 336 n. 22. Hippodrome, 25, 58-9, 72, 77-8, 93, 99, 102, 115, 116, 120, 148, 149, 152, 153, ~64, 165, 266~71, 280, 282, 283, 288-9, 298, 306, 311, 320. Horologium, 121, 164, 289. Icon of Mary painted by St. Luke, 265. Lycusvalley, 250. Magnaura palace 156. Mangana area, 282. Mese, 148. Milion, 297. Monastery of St. Andrew, 102. Monastery of St. George in Mangana, 264. Mosque, 108, 289-90. Nea church (New Church), 282, 283, 382 n. 40.

720

TRAVELLERS TO GREECE AND CONSTANTINOPLE

Obelisk (of Thutmosis III) on the Hippodrome, 59, 149, 270. Stone Obelisk (of Constantine VII), 270. Organ, 120, 282. Palace of the Emperors, 102, 120, 148, 153, 164, 281-3. Pantocrator church, 93, 261-2. Pantocrator monastery, 58, 261-2, 336 n. 22. Pantocrator (mosaics), 259, 262, 264, 265. Pege Gate, 120, 252-3. Planetarium, 102, 289. Genuese quarter, 107. Pisan quarter, 107, 109, 180. Russian quarter, 107. Venetian quarter, 106, 109, 176, 179, 217. Statue of Aphrodite, 59. Statue of Athena, 78. Statue of Hercules, 73. Statue of the Just, 58, 271, 316. Statue of Justinian I, 28, 32, 57, 59, 76-7, 93, 99, 102, ~16, 120, 122, ~49, 150, ~53, ~64, 165, 168-9, 256, 269, 271-8, 311, 316, 320. Statue of Ramulus and Remus, 73. Tomb of Constantine I (and Helena), 77, 93-4, 98, 261, 262. Xerolophoshill, 149, 278. Constantinus Rhodius, poet, 10th c., 272, 311, 315. Constantius II, eo-emperor: 323-37, emperor: 337-61, 215. Cordova, 52, 62. Corfu, 6, ~8, 24, 51, 54, 61, 93, ~26, 146, 187, 195, 219. Corinth, 24, 41, 47, 49-50, 54, 110, 126, 131, 185, 186, 198, 199, 200, 211-4, 314, 317. Corinth, Acrocorinth, ~10, 212, 214, 313. Corinth, Gulf of, 18, 50. Cornaro, F., 134. Coronelli, cartographer, 17th c., 423 n. 80. Corsica, 32. Cos (Kos, Lango), 39, 40-1, 144, 145, 146, 169, 245-7, 317. Cos, Asclepieum, 246. Cosmographia, 133. Cremona see Liudprand. Crete, 14, 17, 32, 39, 54, 61, 64, 81, 86, 89, 93, 125, 131, 135, ~36, 137, 138, 139, 140-3, 144, 152, 160, 187, 198, 219, 222, 227-37, 310, 315, 317, 3~8, 319. Crete, Labyrinth, 39, 54, 139, 143, 144, 229-34, 236, 315. Tomb of Caiaphas, 142, 229, 234-5, 3~5.

INDEX

721

Tomb of Idomeneus and Meriones, 234. Tomb of Zeus, 139, ~42, ~44, 229, 234, 235-6, 314. Crissa, 24. Crusades, 9, 35, 65-75, ~~4, ~30-1, ~89, 227. Cumae, Cave of the Sibylle, 307. Curzuola (Korcula), 17. Cybele, statue of, ~39, ~46, 241. Cyprianus I, Russian metropolitan, ~4th c., ~01-2. Cyprus, 14, ~7, 24, 27, 29, 32, 40, 55, 70, 86, 131, 198, 199, 3~0.

Cyriacus of Ancona, traveller, ~5th c., 43, 45, ~38, 161, 192, 207, 208, 2~4, 222, 224-5, 277, 308-9, 3~0. Cythera, ancient city, 221. Cythera (island) see Cerigo. Cythereia see Venus. Cyzicus, temple of Hadrian, 3~8. D

Daedalus, 54, 23~. Dalmatia, ~7, 32-3. Damietta, 86. Daniel, 445-6 n. 54. Danielis, Archontissa in Patras, 9th c., 2~4. Dante Alighieri, Italien poet, 1265-132~, 9, 306-7, 427 n. 9. Daphni, 125. Dardanelles (Hellespont 1 Brachium Sancti Georgii), 56, 6~, 89, ~92-3, 293-4. Dares (Phrygius), 221, 295. Datini, Francesco di Marco, Italian trader, ~4th c., ~~0. David, Jewish king, 297. David of Dinant, philosopher-theologian, 12th-~3th c., ~57. Dawkins, R.M., ~~5. De La Roche, Burgundian family, 8~, 82. Dead Sea, 27. Delos, 130, 131, ~32, 147. Delphi, ~. ~30, 131, ~38, ~87, 269, 3~4. Demetrius Cydones, teacher of Greek, 14th c., ~60, 3~4. Demetrius Rendi, notary in Athens, 14th c., 406 n. 43. Descriptio Insulae Cretae, ~35-6, 137, 138-9, 140-3, ~44, 145, 146, 147, 230, 234-7, 314. Diana, Statue of, 139, 14~. Dictys (Cretensis), 295. Diehl, Ch., 60, 62, 316. Digenis Akritas, Byzantine medieval epic, 2~6, 287. Dionysius the Areopagite, bishop of Athens, 45-6, 199, 348 n. 147.

722

TRAVELLERS TO GREECE AND CONSTANTINOPLE

Directorium ad faciendum passagium transmarinum, 87-8, 251. Divina Comedia see Dante. Dodecanese, 38. Domenico Michiel, Doge, 1~~8-29, 2~9. Domenico Silvestris, author, ~4th c., ~38. Domenican Friars, 125-7, 180-~, ~84. Domitian, Roman emperor, 81-96, 245. Draco, legendary son of Hippocrates, 440 n. 47. Dragas, despotes see Constantine XI. Drama, 24. Ducae, rulers of Epirus, 80. Durazzo, 18. E

Ebels-Hoving, B., 66. Ebersolt, J., 260. Edessa, 83. Edward the Confessor, king of England, 1043-66, ~56. Egeria, pilgrim, 4th-5th c., 23. Egypt, 29-30, 34-5, 55, 6~, 86, 88, 94, ~08, ~67-8. Eichstadt, 14. Eleusis (Lippissinox}, 48-9, 209. Elias de Nabinallis, archbishop of Nicosia, ~332-42, 32, 342 n. 82. Elis, 84, 220. Enrique Ill, king of Castilia and Leon, 1390-1407, 99. Ephesus, ~5, 29, 33, 88, 89, ~23, 13~, 152, 165-6, 293, 29930~.

Ephesus, Church of Saint John, 29, 33, 89, ~7, ~66, 26~, 300, 319-20. Church of Saint Mary, 300. Seven Sleepers, 15, ~3~, ~56, 299. Epidaurus, 1. Epirus, 13, 18, 80, 195, ~99. Eracle, French poem, 12th c., 77. Erasmus Desiderius, humanist, ea. ~469-1536, 242. Erik I, king of Denmark, ~095-~103, 379 n. ~7. Euboea see Negroponte. Eugenius IV, pope, 143~-47, 53. Euphrosyne, Princess of Polotsk, pilgrim, ~2th c., 22. Eurotas, river near Sparta, 224. Eustathius, archbishop of Thessalonica, 12th c., ~76, 229, 231. Eustochium, pilgrim, 4th c., 23. Evans, A., 235. Evelt, 3~.

723

INDEX

Examilia see Isthmus. Expositio totius mundi et gentium, 197. Eyice, S., 260. Ezechiel, prophet, 131. F

Fallmerayer, Jacob, 197, 414 n. 2-3. Famagusta (Cyprus), 33. Felix Faber, pilgrim, 15th c., 35, 199, 343 n. 95. Fiesole, 307. First Crusade 1096-9, 65-7, 177. Florence, 133, 134, 135, 137, 138, 160, 175, 308. Florence, S. Maria supra Arnum-Church, 134. Florence-Ferrara, Council of, 1438-9, 53, 62, 357 n. 234. Foucher of Chartres, chronicler, 11th-12th c., 66-7, 70, 503-4. Fourth Crusade 1202-4, 16, 7.0-5, 86, 125, 177, 201. Franciscan monks, 47, 125-7, 180, 181, 184. Franco Acciajuoli, Duke of Athens, 1455-6 (d. 1460), 206. Frederick I (Barbarossa), king of Germany: 1152-5, emperor: 1155-90, 70, 360 n. 29. Frederick II, King of Sicily: 1197-1250, of Germany: 1212-20, emperor: 1220-50, 44, 86, 348 n. 142. Frederick II, King of Sicily (Aragonese), 1296-1337, 118. Frerioi see Dominican and Franciscan monks. Frescobaldi, pilgrim, 14th c., 220. G

Galata see Pera. Galenus, physician, 130-ca. 210, 166, 174, 245, 301. Galland, Antoine, traveller, 17th c., 2, 200, 418 29. Gallio, governor of Corinth, 1s c.AD, 351 n. 167. Gallipoli, 24, 89-90, 117, 118, 144, 147, 192-3. Gardiki, 24. Gasmuli, 83. Gasparino Barzizza, professor of rhetoric at Padua, 1370-1431, 230. Gautier d'Arras, poet, 1135-98, 77. Gautier de Brienne, duke of Athens, 1309-11, 116. Genua, 5, 16, 33, 52, 53, 61, 107, 111, 175-6, 239. Genua, San Lorenzo cathedral, 52-3. Genuese, 7, 16, 61, 106, 107, 133, 150, 189, 203, 227, 239, 290. Geoffrey de Thoissy, admiral, 15th c., 95. Geoffroy de Villehardouin, chronicler, d. ea. 1213, 73, 74, 75, 78, 279, 282, 285, 316, 540-2.

n.

724

TRAVELLERS TO GREECE AND CONSTANTINOPLE

Geoffroy I de Villehardouin, prince of Achaea, 1210-ca. 1228, 82, 2~1, 2~9. Geographica see Ptolomaeus. Geography, 129-33, 150-4. Georgius Bourtzes, metropolitan of Athens, 12th c., 158. Geraki, castle of, 216. Germanus, patriarch of Nicea, 13th c., 409 n. 12. Ghillebert de Lannoy, envoy, 15th c., 92-3, 95, 98-9, 193, 674-5. Gibraltar, 52, 1~5. Gilles, Pierre (Petrus Gyllius), traveller, 16th c., 276, 456 n. 163. Giordano Orsini, cardinal, 15th c., ~35, ~36. Giovanni Colonna, friend of Petrarca, 14th c., 471 n. 32. Giovanni Malpaghini, teacher of Greek, ~4th c., 160. Giovanni de'Marignolli, papal ambassador, 14th c., 373 n. 17. Giovanni Tortello, writer of De orthografia, 15th c., 230. Giselbert, archbishop of Bremen, 13th c., 340 n. 54. Giustiniani, Genuese rulers in Chios, 239. Giustiniani, Hieronimo, Chian historian, 16th c., 241. Godfrey of Bouillon, advocate of the Holy Sepulchre, 1099~100, 284. Golden Fleece, 96. G6mez de Salazar, ambassador, ea. ~400, 99. Gortyn, 142, 143, ~44, 229, 230-1, 322. Gortyn, palace of Minos, 142, 143. Gottfried, bishop of Osnabrlick, 1321-49, 342 n. 80. Gozo-Malta, 38. Grand camee de France, 112. Greece, passim. Gregory I the Great, pope, 590-604, 53, ~73, 352-3 n. ~79. Gregory XI, pope, 1370-78, 21~. Gregorius Acindynus, 14th c., 398 n. 11. Grotefend, E.L., 27. Grlinenberg, Conrad, pilgrim, 15th c., 438 n. 32. Guibert of Nogent, chronicler, 1053-~124, 66, 67, ~77, 326, 507. Guido da Colonna, Sicilian lawyer, 13th c., 295. Gunther of Pairis, chronicler, 13th c., 466 n. 17. H

Hadrianus, emperor, ~17-38, 43-4, 48. Hadwiga, princess of Bavaria, lOth c., ~73-4. Haiton, Armenian historian, d. after 1307, 168. Hannibal, 297. Harald Sigurdsson, king of Norway, d. 1066, 113-4.

INDEX

725

Harawi (Aboul Hassan Aly ibn Abou Bekr al-Harawi), Arab traveller, l2th c., l63-4, 268, 270, 27l, 273, 275, 278, 279, 289, 305, 534-7. Hartmann Schedel, geographer, l5th c., 13l, 276. Hariln-al-Raschid, cal.if, 786-809, 286. Harfrn-ibn-Yahya, captive, lOth c., ll9-2l, l23, l64, 252, 266, 267, 268, 273, 274, 281-2, 287, 289, 304, 305, 48695. Hebrews (Three) in the Fiery Furnace, 93, 260. Hebrus, river, l93. Heckscher, W.S., 327. Hector, son of Priam, 297. Heidenheim, l4. Heimskringla (sagas), ll4. Heinrich von Herford, chronicler, l4th c., 25, 26. Heinrich Martelli, geographer, 15th c., l38. Hekatonpolis, l40. Helen (raped by Paris), 38, 54, ll8, 146, l92, 2l6, 22~-2, 295, 3l5. Helena Angela Comnena, princess, l3th c., l78. Helena, mother of Constantine, ea. 255-330, 46, 77, 80, 93, ~02, 26l, 286. Hellas, Byzantine theme, l98, 2l0, 2ll, 3ll. Hellespont see Dardanelles. Hendrickx, B., 73. Henri de Valenciennes, chronicler, l3th c., 203. Henricus Aristippus, teacher of Greek, ~2th c., ~56. Henry V, king of England, l4l3-22, 98. Henry VI, German emperor, ll9~-7, 321. Henry of Flanders, Latin emperor, ~205-~6, 72, 74, 8l, 82, 203, 285. Heinrich, count of Bavaria, lOth c., l73. Heraclea (Raclea), 18, 192, 222. Heraclius, Byzantine emperor, 6l0-4l, 77, 80, 276, 277. Hercules, ~46, 243, 297. Herodotus, historian, 5th c. BC., l78. Heruli, 42, ~97. Heyd, W., l05. Hierapolis, ~44. Hieronymus, theologian, 347-4~9/420, 13l, 155. Hilarius of Poitiers, theologian, 3l0/320-367, 155. Hildeb.ert de Lavardin, bishop of Le Mans l096-ll25, archbishop of Tours ~l25-34, 304. Hilduin of Saint Denis, abbot d. 844, 348 n. l47. Hintzen, J.D., 95. Hippocrates, physician, ea. 460-377 BC., 40-l, 145, 174, 2457' 3~l' 3.l4' 322.

726

TRAVELLERS TO GREECE AND CONSTANTINOPLE

Hippocrates, daughter of, 41, 145, 169, 246-7, 322. Hippocrene, source, 322. Hissarlik, 96. Homer, see also Chios, Tomb of, 139, 174, 240-1, 295. Hospitallers or Knights Hospitallers of S. John of Jerusalem, military order, 26, 29, 33, 39, 54, 88, 89, 145, 169, 223, 243, 245, 246-7, 322. Hudud-al- 0>

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